Question

How do you simplify `8/(m^2) * (m^2/(2c))^2`?

Answer 1

Cancel the terms common to the numerator and to the denominator.

Explanation:

Your initial expression looks like this

`8/m^2 * (m^2/(2c))^2`

Notice that you have `m^2` as the denominator of the first fraction and `(m^2)^2` as the numerator of the second fraction. This means that you can write

`8/m^2 * (m^2)^2/((2c)^2) = 8/m^2 * (m^2 * m^2)/(2^2 * c^2) = (cancel(4) * 2)/cancel(m^2) * (cancel(m^2) * m^2)/(cancel(4) * c^2)`

Your initial expression will thus be equivalent to

`8/m^2 * (m^2/(2c))^2 = color(green)((2 * m^2)/c)`