Question

How do you find the quotient of m^2 – 3m – 28 ÷ m + 4?

Answer 1

To find the quotient of this particular problem, factorize `m^2-3m-28` and divide the result by (m+4). The working and explanation given below.

Explanation:

There are many ways in which you can do this problem. If you are comfortable with factoring quadratic trinomials then the following way would be useful.

Our question is `m^2-3m-28 -: m+4`

Let us rewrite it as `(m^2-3m-28)/(m+4)`

Factoring the numerator : `m^2-3m-28 = (m-7)(m+4)`

`((m-7)(m+4))/(m+4)`
`((m-7)(cancel(m+4)))/(cancel(m+4)` `=m-7`

The quotient is `m-7`