How do you simplify (x^2+4x-5)/(x^2-1)?

2 Answers
Jan 24, 2017

Factor the numerator and the denominator, and see if you can cancel any of the factors!

Explanation:

((x+5)(x-1))/((x+1)(x-1)) reduces by canceling out the repeated (x-1) that appears in both top and bottom of the expression.

Your final answer is: (x+5)/(x+1).

Jan 24, 2017

The answer is =(x+5)/(x+1)

Explanation:

We need

a^2-b^2=(a+b)(a-b)

Let's factorise the numerator and denominator

x^2+4x-5=(x-1)(x+5)

x^2-1=(x+1)(x-1)

Therefore,

(x^2+4x-5)/(x^2-1)=(cancel(x-1)(x+5))/((x+1)cancel(x-1))

=(x+5)/(x+1)