Question

Simplify y^2 + y - 20/y^2 - 2y - 8

A)y - 5/y - 2
B)y + 5/y + 2
C)5/2
D)y - 10/y - 4
I chose A. I don't know how to do it.

Answer 1

The only simplification I see is
y^2 -y -20/y^2 -8
Did you omit an = sign?
The y^2 and 1/y^2 terms do not go away, but if it is restated as an equation, it can be manipulated to solve for y.

Answer 2

The rest says: Assume that the denominator is not equal to zero.

Everything else is correct

Answer 3

I see the problem now. You omitted necessary parentheses. There IS no 20/y^2 term

(y^2 + y - 20)/(y^2 - 2y - 8)
Factor numnerator and denominator
[(y+5)/(y-4)]/[(y-4)(y+2)]
= (y+5)/(y+2)
(B)

I cannot say it often enough. When typing equations out on a single line, it is ESSENTIAL that parentheses and brackets be used to avoid ambiguities (confusion) like this.

Answer 4

I see where the confusion was sorry and thank you.