Factor this please!

[extremehangman]

Can somebody please tell me how to factor this? I'm at a loss:

(s^5 - a^5)/(s^2 - a^2)

I need to simplify it to solve for the limit as "s" approaches "a", but I know how to do that part, I just don't know how to factor it.

 

[Deleted member 4993]

Can somebody please tell me how to factor this? I'm at a loss:

(s^5 - a^5)/(s^2 - a^2)

I need to simplify it to solve for the limit as "s" approaches "a", but I know how to do that part, I just don't know how to factor it.

s^5 - a^5 = 0 has a solution s = a. So (s-a) is a factor of (s^5 - a^5).

Now divide (s^5 - a^5) by (s-a) - using long division (or synthetic division) to find the other factor.

Similarly,

s^2 - a^2 = 0 has a solution s = a. So (s-a) is a factor of (s^2 - a^2).

Now divide (s^5 - a^2) by (s-a) - using long division (or synthetic division) to find the other factor. You can also use the "difference of squares" formula to find the other factor in this case.