Question

How do you simplify `\frac { 3x ^ { 2} + 18x + 24} { 3x ^ { 2} + 14x + 8}`?

Answer 1

`(3(x+2))/(3x+2)`

Explanation:

Factorise the quadratic trinomials and see if there are any common factors:

`(3x^2 +18x +24)/(3x^2 +14x +8)" "larr` DO NOT cancel!

`=((3x+6)(x+4))/((3x+2)(x+4))`

`=((3x+6)(cancel(x+4)))/((3x+2)(cancel(x+4)))`