Simplify (x^2-x-2)/(x^2-4)

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

Step 1

Factor $x^{2} - x - 2$ 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 $- 2$ and whose sum is $- 1$ .

$- 2, 1$

Write the factored form using these integers.

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

Step 2

Simplify the denominator.

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

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

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 $b = 2$ .

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

Step 3

Cancel the common factor of $x - 2$ .

Cancel the common factor.

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

Rewrite the expression.

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

Simplify (x^2-x-2)/(x^2-4)

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