9/27/23, 5:19 AM Algebra - Partial Fractions

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Section 5.5 : Partial Fractions - Practice Problems Solutions

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2. Determine the partial fraction decomposition of each of the following expression.

34 − 12x

2
3x − 10x − 8

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The first step is to determine the form of the partial fraction decomposition. However, in order
to do that we first need to factor the denominator as much as possible. Doing this gives,

34 − 12x

(3x + 2) (x − 4)

Okay, we can now see that the partial fraction decomposition is,

34 − 12x A B
= +
2
3x − 10x − 8 3x + 2 x − 4

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The LCD for this expression is (3x + 2) (x − 4). Adding the two terms back up gives,

34 − 12x A (x − 4) + B (3x + 2)
=
2
3x − 10x − 8 (3x + 2) (x − 4)

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Setting the numerators equal gives,

34 − 12x = A (x − 4) + B (3x + 2)

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9/27/23, 5:19 AM Algebra - Partial Fractions

Hide Step 4 

Now all we need to do is pick “good” values of x to determine the constants. Here is that
work.

x = 4 : −14 = 14B
A = −9
2 14 →
x = − : 42 = − A B = −1
3 3

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The partial fraction decomposition is then,

34 − 12x 9 1
= − −
2
3x − 10x − 8 3x + 2 x − 4

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