Divide (x^2-1)/(x+1)

$\frac{x^{2} - 1}{x + 1}$

Step 1

Simplify the numerator.

Rewrite $1$ as $1^{2}$ .

$\frac{x^{2} - 1^{2}}{x + 1}$

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 $b = 1$ .

$\frac{(x + 1) (x - 1)}{x + 1}$

Step 2

Cancel the common factor of $x + 1$ .

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{(x + 1) (x - 1)}{x + 1}$

Divide $x - 1$ by $1$ .

$x - 1$