Question
Find the difference quotient
, where
, for the function below.
Simplify your answer as much as possible.
Simplify your answer as much as possible.
Ask by Schneider Mckenzie. in the United States
Mar 17,2025
Upstudy AI Solution
Tutor-Verified Answer
Answer
The difference quotient simplifies to
.
Solution
We are given
and we want to compute the difference quotient
with
.
Step 1. Compute
:
Step 2. Write the difference
:
Step 3. Combine the fractions over a common denominator:
The common denominator is
. Thus,
Step 4. Expand and simplify the numerator:
First, expand
:
Next, expand
:
Now, subtract the second expansion from the first:
Step 5. Write the expression for the difference quotient:
Substituting the simplified numerator back:
Simplify by dividing by
(noting that
):
Thus, the simplified difference quotient is:
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Extra Insights
To find the difference quotient
, we first need to compute
.
Given
, we have:
Now we can compute the difference quotient:
Let’s find a common denominator for the two fractions in the numerator:
The common denominator is
. Thus, we rewrite the difference as follows:
This becomes:
Now, simplify the numerator:
- Expanding
. - Expanding
.
Subtract
from
:
So our difference quotient now simplifies to:
This yields our final result: