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Finding the Quotient (32a2b16ab2)÷(8ab)(32a^2b - 16ab^2) \div (-8ab)

Divide a binomial with two variables by a negative monomial with two variables: (32a2b16ab2)÷(8ab)(32a^2b - 16ab^2) \div (-8ab).

Step 1 — Rewrite as a fraction. Write the division operation with the polynomial as the numerator and the monomial as the denominator: 32a2b16ab28ab\frac{32a^2b - 16ab^2}{-8ab}.

Step 2 — Separate the terms. Break the fraction apart so that each term in the numerator is divided by the monomial denominator: 32a2b8ab16ab28ab\frac{32a^2b}{-8ab} - \frac{16ab^2}{-8ab}.

Step 3 — Simplify each fraction. For the first term: divide the numerical coefficients to get 328=4\frac{32}{-8} = -4. Apply the Quotient Property to the variables: a2a=a21=a\frac{a^2}{a} = a^{2-1} = a, and bb=1\frac{b}{b} = 1. The result is 4a-4a. For the second term: divide the coefficients to get 168=2\frac{16}{-8} = -2. Apply the Quotient Property: aa=1\frac{a}{a} = 1, and b2b=b21=b\frac{b^2}{b} = b^{2-1} = b. The result is 2b-2b. Since this term is subtracted in the original expression, we write (2b)-(-2b), which simplifies to +2b+2b.

The quotient is 4a+2b-4a + 2b.

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Updated 2026-04-29

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