Divide (x^2-9)/(x-3)

$\frac{x^{2} - 9}{x - 3}$

Step 1

Simplify the numerator.

Rewrite $9$ as $3^{2}$ .

$\frac{x^{2} - 3^{2}}{x - 3}$

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 $b = 3$ .

$\frac{(x + 3) (x - 3)}{x - 3}$

Step 2

Cancel the common factor of $x - 3$ .

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{(x + 3) (x - 3)}{x - 3}$

Divide $x + 3$ by $1$ .

$x + 3$