Algebra 2 Common Core

Published by Prentice Hall
ISBN 10: 0133186024
ISBN 13: 978-0-13318-602-4

Chapter 8 - Rational Functions - 8-4 Rational Expressions - Practice and Problem-Solving Exercises - Page 531: 11

Answer

$7 - z$ Restriction: $z \ne -7$

Work Step by Step

Let's first take a look at the problem to see what we can cancel out from the numerator and denominator: $\dfrac{49 - z^2}{z + 7}$ We can factor the binomial in the numerator because it is the difference of two squares. The formula for factoring this binomial is as follows: $a^2 - b^2 = (a + b)(a - b)$ Let's factor the numerator using this formula: $\dfrac{(7 - z)(7 + z)}{z + 7}$ We can divide the numerator and denominator by $z + 7$: $7 - z$ To find out if there are any restrictions on the variables, we need to find which values of $z$ will cause the denominator to equal zero, which would make the whole expression undefined. Let's set the denominator equal to zero and solve for $z$: $z + 7 = 0$ Subtract $7$ from each side of the equation: $z = -7$ Restriction: $z \ne -7$
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