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algebra intermediate

Problem

What is the value of ?
Solution
Let . The expression is equal to . We notice a common factor of in the second and third terms of the numerator, so we split the fraction apart: The first part of the expression is equal to , which simplifies to .

The second part of the expression has a numerator that can be factored as a difference of cubes. We will concentrate on the numerator for now: Alternatively, we can expand the numerator, and factor: Taken with the denominator, the second half of the expression simply equals .

Putting it back with the first half of the expression, the final expression equals .
Final answer
2013