Divide the polynomials. [HINT: Solve the following problem by factoring and cancelling. Your answer should be one binomial.]

start fraction, left parenthesis, x, squared, plus, 4, x, minus, 5, right parenthesis, divided by, left parenthesis, x, minus, 1, right parenthesis, end fraction
(x−1)
(x
2
+4x−5)

1 answer

We need to divide the polynomial \( \frac{x^2 + 4x - 5}{x - 1} \). First, we will factor the numerator \( x^2 + 4x - 5 \).

To factor \( x^2 + 4x - 5 \), we look for two numbers that multiply to \(-5\) (the constant term) and add to \(4\) (the coefficient of the linear term). The numbers \(5\) and \(-1\) work:

\[ x^2 + 4x - 5 = (x + 5)(x - 1). \]

Now we can rewrite the original expression using this factorization:

\[ \frac{x^2 + 4x - 5}{x - 1} = \frac{(x + 5)(x - 1)}{x - 1}. \]

Next, we can cancel the \(x - 1\) terms (as long as \(x \neq 1\) to avoid division by zero):

\[ \frac{(x + 5)(x - 1)}{x - 1} = x + 5 \quad \text{(for } x \neq 1\text{)}. \]

Thus, the final answer is:

\[ \boxed{x + 5}. \]

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