Cancel factors, never terms

SAT Glossary

Rational expressions simplify only by factoring: ((x+3)(x-3))/((x+3)(x+2))=(x-3)/(x+2). You may never cancel terms — (x+3)/(x+2)≠frac32 — because x+3 is a sum, not a product, and cancellation is division, and you cannot divide part of a sum.

More SAT terms

out of $\\frac{x+3}{x+2}$ to get $\\frac{3}{2}$ — that's illegal, because $x+3$ is an ADDITION, not a multiplication, and you can't just chop a piece out of a sum. Cancellation is really division, and you can only divide out something that's multiplying the WHOLE top and the WHOLE bottom.","aliases":[],"topic":"Course Foundations","priority":"specialized","learningStage":"intermediate","prerequisiteIds":[],"questionCount":0,"curriculumBasis":{"revision":"current-sat-2026","objective":"Course Foundations: Cancel factors, never terms","source":"https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/practice/content-domains"},"id":"Cancel factors, never terms","courseId":"sat","publicSeo":true,"seoSlug":"cancel-factors-never-terms-rs6554"}

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Cancel factors, never terms

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