WAEC 2023 · Paper 1 · Q7

Partial fractions

Given that $\dfrac{3x + 4}{(x - 2)(x + 3)} \equiv \dfrac{P}{x + 3} + \dfrac{Q}{x - 2}$ , find the value of $Q$ .

Worked solution (try it first)

Multiply through by $(x - 2)(x + 3)$ : $3x + 4 = P(x - 2) + Q(x + 3)$ .
Put $x = 2$ to remove the $P$ term: $3(2) + 4 = Q(5)$ , so $10 = 5Q$ .
So $Q = 2$ , option D.

Report a problem with this question