McGraw Hill Integrated II, 2012
MH
McGraw Hill Integrated II, 2012 View details
3. Similar Triangles
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Exercise 42 Page 569

Recall the definition of factorial.

D

Practice makes perfect

Let's begin with recalling the definition of factorial.

The factorial of a positive integer n is the product of the positive integers less than or equal to n. n!=n*(n-1)*(n-2)*(n-3)* ... * 1

Using this information, we can rewrite the numerator of a given expression. x!/(x-3)!=x*(x-1)*(x-2)*(x-3)*...*1/(x-3)! Notice that the expression (x-3)*(x-4)*...*1 is the factorial of (x-3) and we can rewrite it as (x-3)!. x*(x-1)*(x-2)* (x-3)*(x-4)...*1/(x-3)! ⇕ x*(x-1)*(x-2)* (x-3)!/(x-3)! Next, we can reduce the fraction by (x-3)! and simplify the expression.
x*(x-1)*(x-2)*(x-3)!/(x-3)!
x*(x-1)*(x-2)/1
x*(x-1)*(x-2)
â–Ľ
Simplify
(x^2-x)*(x-2)
x(x^2-x)-2(x^2-x)
x^3-x^2-2(x^2-x)
x^3-x^2-2x^2+2x
x^3-3x^2+2x
This corresponds with answer D.