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I am helping my girlfriend with her math and a question is "simplify by removing the factors of one:"?

The Problem is---- 45s^8/54s^9

So 45s to the power of 8 over 54s to the power of 9

Can someone help me figure this out for her?

1 Answer

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  • 9 years ago

    Slice the fraction up so that you can focus on the like terms - the numbers with the numbers, and the variables with the variables.

    45 over 54 - hm, both of them share a common factor, 9. 45 is 9 times 5, while 54 is 9 times 6. If we cancel out the 9 from both, we're left with 5/6.

    For s^8/s^9, the same applies - both of them share a common factor. This time, it's s^8. The top is s^8 times 1, while the bottom is s^8 times s (Using the properties of exponents, s^9 = s^(8 + 1) = s^8 times s^1 - s^8 times s). Cancel out the s^8, and you're left with 1/s.

    5/6 times 1/s is 5/(6s) [5 divided by 6s].

    Hope I helped!

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