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Calulus partial fractions

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somuchcooleronline
somuchcooleronline
Apr 11, 2011
0
#1

Hello.  I'm struggling with calculus and wondering if any math geniuses/professors/nerds/fellow struggling students can help me out.  For starters, I'm kind of confused about the algebra part of the partial fractions method.  For example, say you have

(3X2 + 2x +5)/(x-a1)2(x-a2)

 

Apparantly this converts to:

A/ (x-a1)2 + B/(x-a1) + C/(x-a2)



Instead of just:

A/ (x-a1) + B/(x-a1) + C/(x-a2)



Why do I need to square the extra (x-a1) factor? Needless to say, my textbook is not very clear, and teacher, well... Any help would be greatly appreciated.





 

ivandh
ivandh
Apr 11, 2011
0
#2

That is correct. To say why, I would have to delve into deep, disturbing areas of my brain...

philidorposition
philidorposition
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Apr 11, 2011
0
#3

Edited:

Whoops sorry completely wrong math, I saw the thing completely wrong. Smile

artfizz
artfizz
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Apr 11, 2011
0
#4

Have you seen this? ... http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/kenny/papers/partial.html

somuchcooleronline
somuchcooleronline
Apr 11, 2011
0
#5

artfizz: Thanks.  Interesting site. I understand how to solve them though.  I was looking more for an explanation of why the extra factor has to be squared rather than how to solve the resulting sum of partial fractions.