Divide (x^2-16)/(4+x)

$\frac{x^{2} - 16}{4 + x}$

Step 1

Simplify the numerator.

Rewrite $16$ as $4^{2}$ .

$\frac{x^{2} - 4^{2}}{4 + x}$

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 $b = 4$ .

$\frac{(x + 4) (x - 4)}{4 + x}$

Step 2

Cancel the common factor of $x + 4$ and $4 + x$ .

Reorder terms.

$\frac{(x + 4) (x - 4)}{x + 4}$

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{(x + 4) (x - 4)}{x + 4}$

Divide $x - 4$ by $1$ .

$x - 4$