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AlgebraPartialFractions

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ALGEBRANOTES
CommonGraphs PreviousChapter
FindingZeroesofPolynomials Previous
Section

NextChapter

ExponentialandLogarithm
Functions

NextSection

ExponentialandLogarithm
Functions(Introduction)

PartialFractions
Thissectiondoesntreallyhavealottodowiththerestofthischapter,butsincethesubjectneedstobe
coveredandthiswasafairlyshortchapteritseemedlikeasgoodaplaceasanytoputit.

So,letsstartwiththefollowing.Letssupposethatwewanttoaddthefollowingtworational
expressions.

Whatwewanttodointhissectionistostartwithrationalexpressionsandaskwhatsimplerrational
expressionsdidweaddand/orsubtracttogettheoriginalexpression.Theprocessofdoingthisis
calledpartialfractionsandtheresultisoftencalledthepartialfractiondecomposition.

Theprocesscanbealittlelongandonoccasionmessy,butitisactuallyfairlysimple.Wewillstartby
tryingtodeterminethepartialfractiondecompositionof,

wherebothP(x)andQ(x)arepolynomialsandthedegreeofP(x)issmallerthanthedegreeofQ(x).
Partialfractionscanonlybedoneifthedegreeofthenumeratorisstrictlylessthanthedegreeofthe
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denominator.Thatisimportanttoremember.

So,oncewevedeterminedthatpartialfractionscanbedonewefactorthedenominatorascompletelyas
possible.Thenforeachfactorinthedenominatorwecanusethefollowingtabletodeterminethe
term(s)wepickupinthepartialfractiondecomposition.

Factorin
Terminpartial
denominator
fractiondecomposition

Noticethatthefirstandthirdcasesarereallyspecialcasesofthesecondandfourthcasesrespectivelyif
welet
.Also,itwillalwaysbepossibletofactoranypolynomialdownintoaproductoflinear
factors(
)andquadraticfactors(
)someofwhichmayberaisedtoapower.

Thereareseveralmethodsfordeterminingthecoefficientsforeachtermandwewillgoovereachof
thoseasweworktheexamples.Speakingofwhich,letsgetstartedonsomeexamples.

Example1Determinethepartialfractiondecompositionofeachofthefollowing.
(a)

[Solution]

(b)

[Solution]

(c)
(d)

[Solution]
[Solution]

Solution

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Wellgothroughthefirstoneingreatdetailtoshowthecompletepartialfractionprocessandthen
wellleavemostoftheexplanationoutoftheremainingparts.

(a)
Thefirstthingtodoisfactorthedenominatorasmuchaswecan.

So,bycomparingtothetableaboveitlookslikethepartialfractiondecompositionmustlooklike,

Notethatwevegotdifferentcoefficientsforeachtermsincethereisnoreasontothinkthattheywill
bethesame.

Now,weneedtodeterminethevaluesofAandB.Thefirststepistoactuallyaddthetwotermsback
up.Thisisusuallysimplerthanitmightappeartobe.Recallthatwefirstneedtheleastcommon
denominator,butwevealreadygotthatfromtheoriginalrationalexpression.Inthiscaseitis,
Now,justlookateachtermandcomparethedenominatortotheLCD.Multiplythenumeratorand
denominatorbywhateverismissingthenadd.Inthiscasethisgives,

WeneedvaluesofAandBsothatthenumeratoroftheexpressionontheleftisthesameasthe
numeratorofthetermontheright.Or,

Thisneedstobetrueregardlessofthexthatweplugintothisequation.Asnotedabovethereare
severalwaystodothis.Onewaywillalwayswork,butcanbemessyandwilloftenrequire
knowledgethatwedonthaveyet.Theotherwaywillnotalwayswork,butwhenitdoesitwill
greatlyreducetheamountofworkrequired.

Inthissetofexamplesthesecond(andeasier)methodwillalwaysworksowellbeusingthathere.
Herewearegoingtomakeuseofthefactthatthisequationmustbetrueregardlessofthexthatwe
plugin.

Soletspickanx,plugitinandseewhathappens.Fornoapparentreasonletstrypluggingin
.
Doingthisgives,
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Canyouseewhywechoosethisnumber?Bychoosing
wegottheterminvolvingAtodropout
andwewereleftwithasimpleequationthatwecansolveforB.

Now,wecouldalsochoose
forexactlythesamereason.Hereiswhathappensifweusethis
valueofx.

So,bycorrectlypickingxwewereabletoquicklyandeasilygetthevaluesofAandB.So,allthat
weneedtodoatthispointisplugthemintofinishtheproblem.Hereisthepartialfraction
decompositionforthispart.

Noticethatwemovedtheminussignonthesecondtermdowntomaketheadditionasubtraction.
Wewillalwaysdothat.
[ReturntoProblems]

(b)
Okay,inthiscasewewontputquiteasmuchdetailintotheproblem.Wellfirstfactorthe
denominatorandthengettheformofthepartialfractiondecomposition.

InthiscasetheLCDis

andsoaddingthetwotermsbackupgive,

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Nextweneedtosetthetwonumeratorsequal.

Nowallthatweneedtodoiscorrectlypickvaluesofxthatwillmakeoneofthetermszeroandsolve
fortheconstants.Notethatinthiscasewewillneedtomakeoneofthemafraction.Thisisfairly
commonsodontgetexcitedaboutit.Hereisthiswork.

Thepartialfractiondecompositionforthisexpressionis,

[ReturntoProblems]

(c)
Inthiscasethedenominatorhasalreadybeenfactoredforus.Noticeaswellthatwevenowgota
linearfactortoapower.So,recallfromourtablethatthismeanswewillget2termsinthepartial
fractiondecompositionfromthisfactor.Hereistheformofthepartialfractiondecompositionforthis
expression.

Now,rememberthattheLCDisjustthedenominatoroftheoriginalexpressionsointhiscaseweve
got

.Addingthethreetermsbackupgivesus,

Rememberthatwejustneedtoaddinthefactorsthataremissingtoeachterm.

Nowsetthenumeratorsequal.

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Inthiscasewevegotaslightlydifferentsituationfromtheprevioustwoparts.Letsstartbypicking
acoupleofvaluesofxandseeingwhatwegetsincetherearetwothatshouldjumprightoutatusas
beingparticularlyuseful.

So,wecangetAandCinthesamemannerthatwevebeenusingtothispoint.However,thereisno
valueofxthatwillallowustoeliminatethefirstandthirdtermleavingonlythemiddletermthatwe
canusetosolveforB.Whilethismayappeartobeaproblemitactuallyisnt.Atthispointweknow
twoofthethreeconstants.Soallweneedtodoischoseanyothervalueofxthatwouldbeeasyto
workwith(
seemsparticularlyusefulhere),plugthatinalongwiththevaluesofAandCand
wellgetasimpleequationthatwecansolveforB.

Hereisthatwork.

Inthiscasewegot
thiswillhappenonoccasion,butdonotexpectittohappeninallcases.
Hereisthepartialfractiondecompositionforthispart.

[ReturntoProblems]

(d)
Again,thedenominatorhasalreadybeenfactoredforus.Inthiscasetheformofthepartialfraction
decompositionis,

Addingthetwotermstogethergives,
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NoticethatinthiscasethesecondtermalreadyhadtheLCDunderitandsowedidntneedtoadd
anythinginthattime.

Settingthenumeratorsequalgives,

Now,again,wecangetBforfreebypicking
.

TofindAwewilldothesamethingthatwedidinthepreviouspart.Welluse
weknowwhatBis.

andthefactthat

Inthiscase,noticethattheconstantinthenumeratorofthefirstisntzeroasitwasintheprevious
part.Hereisthepartialfractiondecompositionforthispart.

[ReturntoProblems]

Now,weneedtodoasetofexampleswithquadraticfactors.Notehowever,thatthisiswherethework
oftengetsfairlymessyandinfactwehaventcoveredthematerialyetthatwillallowustoworkmany
oftheseproblems.Wecanworksomesimpleexampleshowever,soletsdothat.

Example2Determinethepartialfractiondecompositionofeachofthefollowing.
(a)
(b)

[Solution]
[Solution]

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Solution
(a)
Inthiscasethexthatsitsinthefrontisalineartermsincewecanwriteitas,
andsotheformofthepartialfractiondecompositionis,

NowwellusethefactthattheLCDis

andaddthetwotermstogether,

Next,setthenumeratorsequal.

Thisiswheretheprocesschangesfromtheprevioussetofexamples.Wecouldchoose
toget
thevalueofA,butthatstheonlyconstantthatwecouldgetusingthismethodandsoitjustwont
workallthatwellhere.

Whatweneedtodohereismultiplytherightsideoutandthencollectalltheliketermsasfollows,

Now,weneedtochooseA,B,andCsothatthesetwoareequal.Thatmeansthatthecoefficientof
thex2termontherightsidewillhavetobe8sincethatisthecoefficientofthex2termontheleft
side.Likewise,thecoefficientofthextermontherightsidemustbezerosincethereisntanxterm
ontheleftside.Finallytheconstanttermontherightsidemustbe12sincethatistheconstanton
theleftside.

Wegenerallycallthissettingcoefficientsequalandwellwritedownthefollowingequations.

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Now,wehaventtalkedabouthowtosolvesystemsofequationsyet,butthisisonethatwecando
withoutthatknowledge.WecansolvethethirdequationdirectlyforAtogetthat
.Wecanthen
plugthisintothefirsttwoequationstoget,

So,thepartialfractiondecompositionforthisexpressionis,

[ReturntoProblems]

(b)
Hereistheformofthepartialfractiondecompositionforthispart.

Addingthetwotermsupgives,

Now,setthenumeratorsequalandwemightaswellgoaheadandmultiplytherightsideoutand
collectupliketermswhilewereatit.

Settingcoefficientsequalgives,

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InthiscasewegotAandBforfreeanddontgetexcitedaboutthefactthat
.Thisisnota
problemandinfactwhenthishappenstheremainingworkisoftenalittleeasier.So,pluggingthe
knownvaluesofAandBintotheremainingtwoequationsgives,

Thepartialfractiondecompositionisthen,

[ReturntoProblems]
FindingZeroesofPolynomials Previous
Section
CommonGraphs PreviousChapter

NextSection

ExponentialandLogarithm
Functions(Introduction)

NextChapter

ExponentialandLogarithm
Functions

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