Tap the blue circles to see an explanation.
| $$ \begin{aligned}6 \cdot \frac{x}{x^2-4}-\frac{3}{x+2}& \xlongequal{ \color{blue}{ \text{\normalsize{ \htmlClass{explanationCircle explanationCircle1}{\textcircled {1}} } }}}\frac{6x}{x^2-4}-\frac{3}{x+2} \xlongequal{ } \\[1 em] & \xlongequal{ \color{blue}{ \text{\normalsize{ \htmlClass{explanationCircle explanationCircle2}{\textcircled {2}} } }}}\frac{3x+6}{x^2-4} \xlongequal{ } \\[1 em] & \xlongequal{ \color{blue}{ \text{\normalsize{ \htmlClass{explanationCircle explanationCircle3}{\textcircled {3}} } }}}\frac{3}{x-2}\end{aligned} $$ | |
| ① | Multiply $6$ by $ \dfrac{x}{x^2-4} $ to get $ \dfrac{ 6x }{ x^2-4 } $. Step 1: Write $ 6 $ as a fraction by putting $ \color{red}{1} $ in the denominator. Step 2: Multiply numerators and denominators. Step 3: Simplify numerator and denominator. $$ \begin{aligned} 6 \cdot \frac{x}{x^2-4} & \xlongequal{\text{Step 1}} \frac{6}{\color{red}{1}} \cdot \frac{x}{x^2-4} \xlongequal{\text{Step 2}} \frac{ 6 \cdot x }{ 1 \cdot \left( x^2-4 \right) } = \\[1ex] & \xlongequal{\text{Step 3}} \frac{ 6x }{ x^2-4 } \end{aligned} $$ |
| ② | Subtract $ \dfrac{3}{x+2} $ from $ \dfrac{6x}{x^2-4} $ to get $ \dfrac{ \color{purple}{ 3x+6 } }{ x^2-4 }$. To subtract raitonal expressions, both fractions must have the same denominator. |
| ③ | Simplify $ \dfrac{3x+6}{x^2-4} $ to $ \dfrac{3}{x-2} $. Factor both the denominator and the numerator, then cancel the common factor. $\color{blue}{x+2}$. $$ \begin{aligned} \frac{3x+6}{x^2-4} & =\frac{ 3 \cdot \color{blue}{ \left( x+2 \right) }}{ \left( x-2 \right) \cdot \color{blue}{ \left( x+2 \right) }} = \\[1ex] &= \frac{3}{x-2} \end{aligned} $$ |