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Simplify. Rationalize the denominator.\newline475\frac{4}{-7 - \sqrt{5}}

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Q. Simplify. Rationalize the denominator.\newline475\frac{4}{-7 - \sqrt{5}}
  1. Identify Conjugate of Denominator: Identify the conjugate of the denominator.\newlineThe conjugate of a complex number aba - \sqrt{b} is a+ba + \sqrt{b}. Therefore, the conjugate of 75-7 - \sqrt{5} is 7+5-7 + \sqrt{5}.
  2. Multiply by Conjugate: Multiply the numerator and the denominator by the conjugate of the denominator.\newlineTo rationalize the denominator, we multiply both the numerator and the denominator by the conjugate of the denominator.\newline(4(7+5))/((75)(7+5))(4 \cdot (-7 + \sqrt{5})) / ((-7 - \sqrt{5}) \cdot (-7 + \sqrt{5}))
  3. Apply Difference of Squares: Apply the difference of squares formula to the denominator.\newlineThe difference of squares formula is (ab)(a+b)=a2b2(a - b)(a + b) = a^2 - b^2. Applying this to our denominator:\newline(75)(7+5)=(7)2(5)2=495=44(-7 - \sqrt{5}) * (-7 + \sqrt{5}) = (-7)^2 - (\sqrt{5})^2 = 49 - 5 = 44
  4. Distribute Numerator: Distribute the numerator.\newlineNow we distribute 44 across the conjugate in the numerator:\newline4×(7)+4×5=28+454 \times (-7) + 4 \times \sqrt{5} = -28 + 4\sqrt{5}
  5. Combine Simplified Form: Combine the results to express the simplified form.\newlineThe expression now reads as:\newline(28+45)/44(-28 + 4\sqrt{5}) / 44
  6. Divide by Denominator: Simplify the expression by dividing both terms in the numerator by the denominator. Both terms in the numerator can be divided by 4444 to simplify the expression further: 2844+4544\frac{-28}{44} + \frac{4\sqrt{5}}{44}
  7. Reduce to Simplest Form: Reduce the fractions to their simplest form. \newline2844-\frac{28}{44} reduces to 711-\frac{7}{11} and 444\frac{4}{44} reduces to 111\frac{1}{11}, so the expression simplifies to: \newline711+511-\frac{7}{11} + \frac{\sqrt{5}}{11}

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