Question

How do you simplify and find the excluded value of `(x^2 – 7x + 12)/( x^2 – 16)`?

Answer 1

We can factor both terms:

Explanation:

`=((x-3)(x-4))/((x+4)(x-4))`

Provided the denominator is `!=0` we may cancel:

`=((x-3)cancel((x-4)))/((x+4)cancel((x-4)))=(x-3)/(x+4)`

The excluded values are `x=+4andx=-4`