Decompose the Expression: Factoring (ab/cd²) + (a²b/c²d) + (ab²/cd³)

Question

Decompose the following expression into factors:

abcd2+a2bc2d+ab2cd3 \frac{ab}{cd^2}+\frac{a^2b}{c^2d}+\frac{ab^2}{cd^3}

Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

To solve this problem, we'll follow these steps:

  • Step 1: Identify the greatest common factor (GCF) of the numerators.
  • Step 2: Factor out the GCF from the original expression.
  • Step 3: Simplify the resulting expression inside the parentheses.

Now, let's work through each step:
Step 1: The numerators of the terms are abab, a2ba^2b, and ab2ab^2. The GCF here is abab.

Step 2: Factor abab from the expression:

ab(1cd2+ac2d+bcd3) ab\left(\frac{1}{cd^2} + \frac{a}{c^2d} + \frac{b}{cd^3}\right)

Step 3: Factor 1cd\frac{1}{cd} from the expression inside the parenthesis to simplify further:

=abcd(1d+ac+bd2) = \frac{ab}{cd} \left(\frac{1}{d} + \frac{a}{c} + \frac{b}{d^2}\right)

Therefore, the solution to the problem is abcd(1d+ac+bd2) \frac{ab}{cd}(\frac{1}{d}+\frac{a}{c}+\frac{b}{d^2}) .

Answer

abcd(1d+ac+bd2) \frac{ab}{cd}(\frac{1}{d}+\frac{a}{c}+\frac{b}{d^2})