Perform the indicated operations and simplify

Question

Perform the indicated operations and simplify

 

1     +   1      - 2b

b-a       a-b      a^2-b^2

Answer 1

Sorry i think i made a mistake

Answer 2

 1           1          2b

----  +  ------  -  -------

b-a       a-b      a²-b²

 

Now b-a = -(a-b), so

 

 -1        1       2b
---- + ------ - -------
a-b     a-b    a²-b²

 

The first two terms add to zero, so you are left with:

 

 -2b

-------

a²-b²

 

Now a²-b² = (a+b)(a-b), so you can also write it as:

 

    -2b

-------------

(a+b)(a-b)