Hi Emily,

Let me start first by simplifying a numeric farction

Simplify 60/36

You can solve this promlem by factoring the numerator and denominator into prime factors and then cancelling.

You might not need to completely factor the numerator and denominator. For example you might realize that 4 divides 60 (4 15 = 60) and 4 divides 36 (4 9 = 36). Thus

But 15 = 3 5 and 9 = 3 3 so 15/9 simplifies to 5/3.

You can treat your algebraic promlem in an analogous way. Since 36 = 2 18 you can write

I hope this helps,
Penny