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

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

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 $b = y$ .

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

Cancel the common factor of $x - y$ .

Cancel the common factor.

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

Divide $x + y$ by $1$ .

$x + y$