MAT 1033 Pre-class assignment Week 10: Rational Equations

1) What should you do if you encounter an equation that has a fraction in it?
Hint: We learnt this earlier in the semester.
You multiply the number that is dividing in the another side of the ecuation.

In this section, we are going to expand on that idea to involve equations that have variables in the
denominator. These are called rational equations.

3 1
Take the equation +5= .
𝑥 4

2) Taking into account all of the denominators in the equation, what is their LCD?

Is 4x

3) Write the LCD next to each of the numerators, cancel the denominators and solve.
Be sure to use parentheses when necessary.
3+5x=x/4
12+20x=x
12=x-20x
12/19=x

5 7
Now take the equation =
𝑥 2 −4 𝑥−2

4) Looking at the first denominator, what can you do to it?

You can factorize the first denominator

5) What is the LCD for this equation?

(x+2)(x-2)

6) Write the LCD next to each of the numerators, cancel the denominators and solve.
Be sure to use parentheses when necessary.

5(𝑥 + 2)(𝑥 − 2) 7(𝑥 + 2)(𝑥 − 2)

=
(𝑥 + 2)(𝑥 − 2) 𝑥−2

5=7(x+2)
5=7x+14
-9/7=x
 MAT 1033 Pre-class assignment Week 10: Rational Equations

So, whenever solving a rational equation, you must factor each denominator first.

Imagine that you have an equation whose denominators are (x + 1)2 and (x + 1)(x - 1)
7) Would the LCD be (x + 1)(x - 1)? Explain your answer.

No, because the first denominator is squared, the answer will be (𝑥 + 1)2 (x-1)

PRACTICE: Solve for x: Be sure to factor each denominator first.

𝑥+2 5𝑥−1
8) =
3𝑥+9 5𝑥+15

𝑥+2 5𝑥 − 1
=
3(𝑥 + 3) 5(𝑥 + 3)
5(𝑥+2) 3(5𝑥−1)
=
15(𝑥+3) 15(𝑥+3)

(𝑥+2)15(𝑥+3) (5𝑥−1)15(𝑥+3)
=
3(𝑥+3) 5(𝑥+3)
15𝑥+30 75𝑥−15
=
3 5
75𝑥 + 150 = 225𝑥 − 45
-15x=-195
x=13/10

5 2 2
9) − =
𝑥+5 𝑥 2 +2𝑥−15 𝑥−3

5 2 2
− =
𝑥 + 5 (𝑥 + 5)(𝑥 − 3) 𝑥 − 3

5(𝑥+5)(𝑥−3) 2(𝑥+5)(𝑥−3) 2
- − =
𝑥+5 (𝑥+5)(𝑥−3) 𝑥−3
5(x-3)-2=2(x+5)
5x-15-2=2x+10
3x=27
x=9
 MAT 1033 Pre-class assignment Week 10: Rational Equations

3 12
10) 1− =−
𝑥−2 𝑥 2 −4

It is important to check your answer when solving a rational equation.

11) What happens to the equation in #10 when you plug in both solutions?
When I tried to simplify the denominator.

12) Why is this a problem?

Because I couldn’t simplify the denominators in the fraction

We call a solution that makes one of our denominators 0 an extraneous solution. It cannot be
included in the solution list.

To sum up:
Whenever solving a rational equation, you should always _______ you can cross multiply
• _________________ first.
• The idea behind finding the LCD is so that you can ___simplify_____________ each denominator.
• It is important to include _______the sign _________ so that you remember to distribute.
• You must always check your answers in a rational equation to make sure that they are not
wrong___________.