
### Instruction: help me answer this question Simplify the expression: (x^2 - 1) / (x - 1), think step by step
### Assistant: To simplify the expression, we recognize that it is a difference of squares. Therefore, we can rewrite the expression as (x - 1)(x + 1) / (x - 1). Since the denominator and the first term in the numerator are the same, we can cancel them out to get x + 1. However, since x cannot equal 1 (because we are dividing by zero), we must exclude this value from the domain of the expression. , The answer is The simplified expression is x.
