Thread: Factoring problem.

I know that this is probably an easy problem but I just cant figure it out. I've tried so many times and just cant get the right answer. Please help. Here's the question:

Solve for X: x/x-5 - 2/x+5 = 50/(x+5)(x-5)

Originally Posted by Movies32

I know that this is probably an easy problem but I just cant figure it out. I've tried so many times and just cant get the right answer. Please help. Here's the question:

Solve for X: x/x-5 - 2/x+5 = 50/(x+5)(x-5)

multiply both sides by (x+5)(x-5) (or alternatively you could combine the fractions on the right and equate the numerators) we obtain:

x(x + 5) - 2(x - 5) = 50
=> x^2 + 5x - 2x + 10 = 50
=> x^2 + 3x - 40 = 0
=> (x + 8)(x - 5) = 0
=> x = -8 or x = 5