Carcass wrote:
Which of the following is equivalent to
2x2+8x−242x2+20x−48 for all values of x for which both expressions are defined?
A.
x−2x−4B.
x−2x+4C.
x+2x+4D.
x+2x−12E.
x+6x+12 APPROACH #1: FactoringGiven:
2x2+8x−242x2+20x−48Factor the greatest common factor from numerator and denominator:
2(x2+4x−12)2(x2+10x−24)Factor each quadratic:
2(x+6)(x−2)2(x+12)(x−2)Simplify:
x+6x+12Answer: E
APPROACH #2: Testing a valueTwo expressions are equivalent if they evaluate to the same number for all values of x.
For example, we know that 6x + 4x is equivalent to 10x because 6x + 4x = 10x for all values of x.
So, if x = 1.1, we see that 6x + 4x = 6(1.1) + 4(1.1) = 6.6 + 4.4 = 11
Likewise, if x = 1.1, we see that 10x = 10(1.1) = 11 Let's apply this property to the given expression. We'll use a nice number to work with such as
x=1We get:
2x2+8x−242x2+20x−48=2(1)2+8(1)−242(1)2+20(1)−48=−14−26=713This tells us that the correct answer must also evaluate to be
713 when
x=1.
Let's plug x=
1 and we chance of choice to see what we get....
A. (
1−2)/(
1−4) = 1/3. No good. We want 7/13. Eliminate.
B. (
1−2)/(
1+4) = -1/5. No good. We want 7/13. Eliminate.
C. (
1+2)/(
1+4) = 3/5. No good. We want 7/13. Eliminate.
D. (
1+2)/(
1−12) = -3/11. No good. We want 7/13. Eliminate.
E. (
1+6)/(
1+12) = 7/13
PERFECTAnswer: E