Question

What is this simplified? Please help

Answer 1

Answer:

The end result is -1/(x + 1)

Step-by-step explanation:

In order to find the answer to this, we first need to factor the denominator. Since it is a quadratic, we try to find number that multiply to the last term (8) and add to the middle term (9). In this case, the numbers 8 and 1 would work. This allows us to use those numbers in parenthesis along with x as a fully factored form.

x^2 + 9x + 8 = (x + 1)(x + 8)

Now that we have this factored we can take the original equation and factor a -1 out of the top.

(-1)(x + 8)/(x + 1)(x + 8)

Since there is an (x + 8) on the top and bottom, we can cancel those.

-1/(x + 1)