Express in simplest form:  3x+18/4x+8. ÷. x^2−3/6x+2 .(1 point)Responses4(x−6)3Start Fraction 4 left parenthesis x minus 6 right parenthesis over 3 End Fraction34x−8Start Fraction 3 over 4 x minus 8 End Fraction34x−24Start Fraction 2 over 4 x minus 24 End Fraction14(x−2)

1 answer

To simplify the expression \((\frac{3x+18}{4x+8}) \div (\frac{x^2-3}{6x+2})\), we start by rewriting it as a multiplication by the reciprocal:

\[ \frac{3x+18}{4x+8} \cdot \frac{6x+2}{x^2-3} \]

Next, we will simplify each part.

  1. Simplifying \(3x + 18\): \[ 3x + 18 = 3(x + 6) \]

  2. Simplifying \(4x + 8\): \[ 4x + 8 = 4(x + 2) \]

  3. Simplifying \(6x + 2\): \[ 6x + 2 = 2(3x + 1) \]

  4. Factoring \(x^2 - 3\) (this is already in simplest form, it is a difference of squares): \[ x^2 - 3 \text{ stays as it is.} \]

Now we can rewrite the entire expression with these factorizations:

\[ \frac{3(x+6)}{4(x+2)} \cdot \frac{2(3x+1)}{x^2-3} \]

Next, we can combine and multiply these fractions:

\[ \frac{3(x+6) \cdot 2(3x+1)}{4(x+2) \cdot (x^2-3)} \]

Now the numerator becomes:

\[ 6(x+6)(3x+1) \]

And the denominator is:

\[ 4(x+2)(x^2-3) \]

At this stage, check for any possible cancellations.

  1. No factors are common between the numerator and denominator that could be canceled at this point.

Therefore, we leave it as:

\[ \frac{6(x+6)(3x+1)}{4(x+2)(x^2-3)} \]

Finally, we can simplify \(6/4\) to \(3/2\):

\[ \frac{3(x+6)(3x+1)}{2(x+2)(x^2-3)} \]

This is the simplest form of the expression.

Thus, based on your options provided, none perfectly matches, but this is the simplest form of the expression.