complex fractions?

Question

-2x(x^2-3)^-3(2x)(x+1)^3 - 3(x+1)^2(x^2-3)^-2
________________________

[(x+1)^2)]^3

pleaseeee help
simplify completely
also if possible

(x+5)^3/4(x+4)^-2/3 - (x+4)^1/3(x+5)^-1/4
_________________
[(x+5)^3/4]^2

Answer 1

The first thing to do is get rid of negative exponents by putting those terms in the denominator. Then add the parts of the expression using (x^2-3)^3 * (x-1)^6 as a common denominator. The second term gets multiplied by (x^-3). Then multiply out all the terms in the numerator and combine terms of like power. You should end up with an expression like (if I added the terms correctly):

-(4x^5+24x^4+27x^3+x^2-15x-9) / [(x^2-3)^3 * (x-1)^6]

which I think is as far as it goes.

If you want to see how I did it (and check my work) go to
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/8523/simplify2mu4.png