Find the LCD (3x^2+4x+1)/(x^2-4)-(x^2+8x+12)/(x+1)

$\frac{3 x^{2} + 4 x + 1}{x^{2} - 4} - \frac{x^{2} + 8 x + 12}{x + 1}$

Factor by grouping.

For a polynomial of the form $a x^{2} + b x + c$ , rewrite the middle term as a sum of two terms whose product is $a \cdot c = 3 \cdot 1 = 3$ and whose sum is $b = 4$ .

Factor $4$ out of $4 x$ .

$\frac{3 x^{2} + 4 (x) + 1}{x^{2} - 4} - \frac{x^{2} + 8 x + 12}{x + 1}$

Rewrite $4$ as $1$ plus $3$

$\frac{3 x^{2} + (1 + 3) x + 1}{x^{2} - 4} - \frac{x^{2} + 8 x + 12}{x + 1}$

Apply the distributive property.

$\frac{3 x^{2} + 1 x + 3 x + 1}{x^{2} - 4} - \frac{x^{2} + 8 x + 12}{x + 1}$

Multiply $x$ by $1$ .

$\frac{3 x^{2} + x + 3 x + 1}{x^{2} - 4} - \frac{x^{2} + 8 x + 12}{x + 1}$

Factor out the greatest common factor from each group.

Group the first two terms and the last two terms.

$\frac{(3 x^{2} + x) + 3 x + 1}{x^{2} - 4} - \frac{x^{2} + 8 x + 12}{x + 1}$

Factor out the greatest common factor (GCF) from each group.

$\frac{x (3 x + 1) + 1 (3 x + 1)}{x^{2} - 4} - \frac{x^{2} + 8 x + 12}{x + 1}$

Factor the polynomial by factoring out the greatest common factor, $3 x + 1$ .

$\frac{(3 x + 1) (x + 1)}{x^{2} - 4} - \frac{x^{2} + 8 x + 12}{x + 1}$

Simplify the denominator.

Rewrite $4$ as $2^{2}$ .

$\frac{(3 x + 1) (x + 1)}{x^{2} - 2^{2}} - \frac{x^{2} + 8 x + 12}{x + 1}$

Since both terms are perfect squares, factor using the difference of squares formula, $a^{2} - b^{2} = (a + b) (a - b)$ where $a = x$ and $b = 2$ .

$\frac{(3 x + 1) (x + 1)}{(x + 2) (x - 2)} - \frac{x^{2} + 8 x + 12}{x + 1}$

Factor $x^{2} + 8 x + 12$ using the AC method.

Consider the form $x^{2} + b x + c$ . Find a pair of integers whose product is $c$ and whose sum is $b$ . In this case, whose product is $12$ and whose sum is $8$ .

$2, 6$

Write the factored form using these integers.

$\frac{(3 x + 1) (x + 1)}{(x + 2) (x - 2)} - \frac{(x + 2) (x + 6)}{x + 1}$

Finding the LCD of a list of values is the same as finding the LCM of the denominators of those values.

$(x + 2) (x - 2), x + 1$

The LCM is the smallest positive number that all of the numbers divide into evenly.

1. List the prime factors of each number.

2. Multiply each factor the greatest number of times it occurs in either number.

The number $1$ is not a prime number because it only has one positive factor, which is itself.

Not prime

The LCM of $1, 1$ is the result of multiplying all prime factors the greatest number of times they occur in either number.

$1$

The factor for $x + 2$ is $x + 2$ itself.

$(x + 2) = x + 2$

$(x + 2)$ occurs $1$ time.

The factor for $x - 2$ is $x - 2$ itself.

$(x - 2) = x - 2$

$(x - 2)$ occurs $1$ time.

The factor for $x + 1$ is $x + 1$ itself.

$(x + 1) = x + 1$

$(x + 1)$ occurs $1$ time.

The LCM of $x + 2, x - 2, x + 1$ is the result of multiplying all factors the greatest number of times they occur in either term.

$(x + 2) (x - 2) (x + 1)$

Find the LCD (3x^2+4x+1)/(x^2-4)-(x^2+8x+12)/(x+1)

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