Given that \(\frac{2x}{(x + 6)(x + 3)} = \frac{P}{x + 6} + \frac{Q}{x + 3}\), find P and Q.

Assessment: WAEC SSCE - Further Mathematics - 2015 (Objective) Subject: Further Mathematics

Question 1 Report

Given that \(\frac{2x}{(x + 6)(x + 3)} = \frac{P}{x + 6} + \frac{Q}{x + 3}\), find P and Q.

Answer Details
We can begin by multiplying both sides of the equation by the denominator \((x+6)(x+3)\). This will eliminate the denominators on the left side of the equation, leaving us with: $$2x = P(x+3) + Q(x+6)$$ Next, we can expand the right side of the equation: $$2x = Px + 3P + Qx + 6Q$$ We can then simplify by collecting like terms: $$(P + Q)x + (3P + 6Q) = 2x$$ Since this equation must be true for all values of x, we can equate the coefficients of x and the constants on both sides of the equation: $$\begin{aligned} P + Q &= 0 \\ 3P + 6Q &= 2 \end{aligned}$$ Solving the first equation for P in terms of Q, we get: $$P = -Q$$ Substituting this expression for P into the second equation, we get: $$3(-Q) + 6Q = 2$$ Simplifying this equation, we get: $$3Q = 2$$ Thus, we have: $$Q = \frac{2}{3}$$ Substituting this value for Q into the equation P = -Q, we get: $$P = -\frac{2}{3}$$ Therefore, we have: $$P = -\frac{2}{3}\text{ and }Q = \frac{2}{3}$$ So the answer is, P = 4 and Q = -2.

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