Addition and Subtraction of Rational Expressions Contents

Operations on Rational Expressions

College Algebra

Vedes Ann Tagle Laylo

Mathematics Department
De La Salle Lipa

2nd Semester AY 2013 - 2014

Vedes Ann T. Laylo ; vedes18@gmail.com Operations on Rational Expressions

 Addition and Subtraction of Rational Expressions Contents

Contents

1 Addition and Subtraction of Rational Expressions

Vedes Ann T. Laylo ; vedes18@gmail.com Operations on Rational Expressions

 Addition and Subtraction of Rational Expressions

Addition and Subtraction of Rational Expressions

• To add or subtract two rational expressions, we usually find a

common denominator and use the following properties of
quotients:
a c a+c
+ =
d d d
a c a−c
− =
d d d

Vedes Ann T. Laylo ; vedes18@gmail.com Operations on Rational Expressions

 Addition and Subtraction of Rational Expressions

Addition and Subtraction of Rational Expressions

Examples
Perform the indicated operations and simplify.
2 3 x
1
y + y − y

2 3x
2
x+5 + x+5

Vedes Ann T. Laylo ; vedes18@gmail.com Operations on Rational Expressions

 Addition and Subtraction of Rational Expressions

Addition and Subtraction of Rational Expressions

• If the denominators of the expressions are not the same, we first

transform each rational expression into an equivalent expression
so that all rational expressions have equal denominators. This
means that we have to find the least common denominator of
the rational expression.

• To find the least common denominator (LCD):

1 Factor each denominator into primes.
2 Find the least common multiple (LCM) of the denominators, i.e.,
form the product of the different prime factors, using the largest
exponent that appears with each prime factor.

Vedes Ann T. Laylo ; vedes18@gmail.com Operations on Rational Expressions

 Addition and Subtraction of Rational Expressions

Addition and Subtraction of Rational Expressions

Examples
Find the LCD.
1 9x, 6y 2

2 x, y, x2 , y 3

3 x + 1, x − 1, x + 2

4 x2 − 1, x3 − 1, x2 − x − 2

Vedes Ann T. Laylo ; vedes18@gmail.com Operations on Rational Expressions

 Addition and Subtraction of Rational Expressions

Addition and Subtraction of Rational Expressions

Examples
Perform the indicated operations and simplify.
1 2
1
x−2 + x+1

5 4
2
x2 −4
− x2 +4x+4

4 5x
3
9x − 6y 2
+1

2x−1 2
4
x2 (x−1)2
− (x2 −1)(x−1)

x+3 x+2 5
5
x2 −6x+9
− x2 −9
− 3−x

Vedes Ann T. Laylo ; vedes18@gmail.com Operations on Rational Expressions