Math 16A Homework 1 1. Simplify the following expressions. (a) 2x 1 x .

. x + 1 2x + 1 Solution: First we want to make a common de nominator, and then combine the fractions and simplify. x 2x 1 x(2x + 1) (2x 1)(x + 1) = x + 1 2x + 1 (x + 1)(2x + 1) (x + 1)(2x + 1) (2x2 + x) (2x2 x + 2x 1) = (x + 1)(2x + 1) 1 = . (x + 1)(2x + 1) Remember to distribute the minus sign in the last step! (b)
1 2 1 x+1 x1
a b Solution: Here we need to remember the rule c = a bc , but rst lets combine the top fractions again.

1 2

1 x+1 = x1

x+1 2(x+1) x1 2(x+1)

2 2(x+1)

x1 x1 =
1

x1 1 = 2(x + 1)(x 1) 2x + 2

2. Simpify the following expressions. (a) 2x 4x 8x1 Solution: First lets make all of the terms look like 2something , then combine them all using ax ay = ax+y . 2x 4x 2x 22x = 3(x1) = 2x 22x 23(x1) 8x1 2 = 2x2x3x+3 = 234x (b) 1 2x/3 9 3 Solution Well use the same strategy as on the previous problem and make everything look like an exponent of 3.
2x

2x

1 3

2x/3

= 34x 31

2x/3

= 34x2x/3 = 310x/3 3. Solve 6x2 + 5x 4 = 0 by factoring and by using the quadratic equation. Solution: To factor it, lets rst make the x2 term have a 1 in front of it. 4 5 =0 6 x2 + x 6 6
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So were looking for numbers whose product is 4/6 and whose sum is 5/6. The numbers 4/3 and 1/2 will work, so we get 6(x + 4/3)(x 1/2) = 0, or x = 4/3, 1/2. To use the quadratic, we just plug in the coeciants: 5 52 4(6)(4) 5 11 = = 4/3, 1/2 2(6) 12

x=

4. Simplify the expression. 1 2x + 1 + 2x 1

Here we make use of the fact that (a + b)(a b) = a2 b2 . 1 2x + 1 + 2x 1 = 2x + 1 + 2x 1 ( 2x + 1 2x 1)( 2x + 1 + 2x 1) 2x + 1 + 2x 1 2x + 1 + 2x 1 = = (2x + 1) (2x 1) 2 5. Expand and simplify the expressions. (a) (x x)3 .

Solution: We can multiply this out by hand (which you should do for practice). But lets just use
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the binomial expansion trick here. It says that (a + b)3 = a3 + 3a2 b + 3ab2 + b3 , where the coecients are gotten from the fourth row of Pascals triangle. So plugging in a = x and b = x (remember the minus sign!), we get (x x)3 = x3 +3x2 ( x)+3x( x)2 +( x)3 = x3 3x5/2 +3x2 x3/2 (b) (2x + 1)4 + (2x 1)4 Solution: Again lets use the Pascal triangle trick. We want to use (a+b)4 = a4 +4a3 b+6a2 b2 +4ab3 + b4 . Remembering to keep track of the minus sign in the second expansion, we get (2x+1)4 +(2x1)4 = ((2x)4 +4(2x)3 +6(2x)2 +4(2x)+1)+((2x)4 4(2x)3 +6(2x)2 4(2x) + 1) = 32x4 + 48x2 + 2 6. For the function f (x) = 2x2 3x + 4, evaluate the expression f (a+h)f (a) . h Solution: Plug (a+h) and a into f and then simplify the result. f (a + h) f (a) 2(a + h)2 3(a + h) + 4 (2a2 3a + 4) = h h 2 2 2a + 4ah + 2h 3a 3h + 4 2a2 + 3a 4 = h 2 4ah + 2h 3h = 4a + 2h 3 = h
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