Lecture 1

Fractional Equations

Definition 1.1. An equation is called a fractional equation if it contains frac-

tional expressions where the unknown variables are appeared in their denomina-
tors.

The basic approach for solving a fractional equation is to remove the denomi-
nator if possible. However, in many cases this cannot be done by simply multiply-
ing the equation by the least common multiple of the denominators, since it will
lead to an equation of a high degree. Therefore the following techniques are often
needed.
1. Use partial fraction techniques.
2. Use techniques of telescopic sum.
3. Use substitutions of variables or expressions.
Sometimes, it is advisable to manipulate the expressions before the substitu-
tion is discovered and applied.

Examples

xC7 xC8 xC5 xC6

Example 1. Solve equation C D 0.
xC8 xC9 xC6 xC7

Solution The given equation can be simplified to

       
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 C 1 D 0;
x C8 xC9 xC6 x C7

1
2 Lecture 1 Fractional Equations

so
1 1 1 1
D ;
xC8 xC9 xC6 x C7
1 1
D 2 ;
x 2 C 17x C 72 x C 13x C 42
15
x 2 C 17x C 72 D x 2 C 13x C 42; )xD :
2
Example 2. Solve the following equation
1 1 1 1 1
C 2 C 2 D :
x2 C 2x x C 6x C 8 x C 10x C 24 5 x2 C 14x C 48
1
Solution By moving the term to left hand side, it follows
x2 C 14x C 48
that
1 1 1 1 1
C 2 C 2 C 2 D ;
x2 C 2x x C 6x C 8 x C 10x C 24 x C 14x C 48 5
1 1 1 1 1
C C C D ;
x.x
 C 2/ .x C
  2/.x C 4/ .x C 4/.x
 C 6/  .x C 6/.x C 8/
 5
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
C C


C D ;
2 x xC2 xC2 xC4 xC6 xC8 5
1 1 2 2
D ; so x C 8x 20 D 0;
x xC8 5
then .x 2/.x C 10/ D 0, namely x1 D 2 and x2 D 10.
jx 3j jx C 1j
Example 3. (CHINA/2005) Solve equation D 1.
2jx C 1j
Solution Splitting the left hand side to two terms, then
jx 3j 1
D 1;
2jxˇ C 1j ˇ 2
ˇx 3ˇ
ˇ x C 1 ˇ D 3;
ˇ ˇ

x 3 x 3
D 3 or D 3;
xC1 xC1
x 3 D 3x C 3 ) x D 3 and x 3 D 3x 3 ) x D 0:

Thus, x D 3 or x D 0.

Substitutions of variables or expressions play important role in solving frac-

tional equations, as shown in the following examples.
 Lecture Notes on Mathematical Olympiad 3

2x 2 C 1 2x C 4
Example 4. Solve equation C 2 D 3.
xC2 2x C 1
2x 2 C 1 2
Solution Let y D , then the given equation becomes y C D 3.
xC2 y
2
yC D 3 ) y2 3y C 2 D 0 ) .y 2/.y 1/ D 0:
y
1
When y D 1, then 2x 2 x 1 D 0, so x1 D 1; x2 D .
2
1 p 1 p
When y D 2, then 2x 2 2x 3 D 0, so x3 D .1 7/; x4 D .1 C 7/.
2 2
Example 5. (SSSMO(J)/2006) Suppose that the two roots of the equation
1 1 2
C D0
x2 10x 29 x2 10x 45 x2 10x 69
are ˛ and ˇ. Find the value of ˛ C ˇ.
Solution Let y D x 2 10x 45, the given equation then becomes
1 1 2
C D ;
y C 16 y y 24
yC8 1
2
D ;
y C 16y y 24
y2 16y 192 D y 2 C 16y ) y D 6;
x2 10x 45 D 6 ) x2 10x 39 D 0:

Thus, by Viete’s Theorem, ˛ C ˇ D 10.

Sometimes the manipulations on the given equations are needed for finding
the desired substitution, as shown in the following examples.
Example 6. (CHINA/2000) Solve the system for .x; y/:
xy 1 xy 1
D ; D :
3x C 2y 8 2x C 3y 7
Solution By taking reciprocals to two sides of each equation, it follows that
2 3
C D 8;
x y
3 2
C D 7:
x y
4 Lecture 1 Fractional Equations

1 1
Letting u D ; v D , the system for .u; v/ is
x y
2u C 3v D 8;
3u C 2v D 7:

By solving them, it is obtained that u D 1; v D 2. Then, returning to .x; y/,

1
x D 1 and yD :
2
4x 2 C x C 4 x2 C 1 31
Example 7. Solve equation 2
C 2 D .
x C1 x CxC1 6
Solution Write the given equation in the form
x x 1
4C C1 D5C ;
x2 C 1 x2 C x C 1 6
then
1 1 1
D :
1 1 6
xC xC C1
x x
1
Let w D x C , it follows that
x
1 1 1
D ;
w wC1 6
w.w C 1/ D 6 ) w 2 C w 6 D 0;
) .w 2/.w C 3/ D 0; namely w D 2 or w D 3:

1
(i) wD2)xC D 2, then .x 1/2 D 0, so x1 D x2 D 1.
x
1
(ii) w D 3 ) x C D 3, then x 2 C 3x C 1 D 0, so
x
p p
3 5 3C 5
x3 D ; x4 D :
2 2

x2 48 2x 8
Example 8. Solve equation C 2 D .
15 5x 3 x
Solution When both sides are multiplied by 15, the given equation becomes
 2  
12 12
x2 C D 10 x :
x x
 Lecture Notes on Mathematical Olympiad 5

12
Let y D x , by completing square it follows that
x

y2 10y C 24 D 0;
.y 4/.y 6/ D 0; ) y D 4 or 6:

Then
12
yD4)x D 4 ) .x 6/.x C 2/ D 0; i.e. x1 D 6; x2 D 2:
x
12 p p
yD6)x D 6 ) x2 6x 12 D 0; i.e. x3 D 3 21; x4 D 3 C 21:
x
2 3x
Example 9. Solve equation 2x 2 3x C D 1.
x2
Solution Since x ¤ 0, the given equation is equivalent to
   
1 1
2 x2 C 2 3 xC D 1:
x x

1 5
Let y D x C , then 2y 2 3y 4 D 1, i.e., .2y 5/.y C 1/ D 0. Thus, y D
x 2
or 1.
5 2
(i) y D ) 2x C D 5 ) 2x 2 5x C 2 D 0 ) .2x 1/.x 2/ D 0
2 x
1
) x1 D ; x2 D 2.
2
1
(ii) y D 1 ) x C D 1 ) x 2 C x C 1 D 0, no real solution.
x
 2
x
Example 10. Solve equation x 2 C D 3.
xC1
Solution By completing the square on the left hand side, it follows that
 2
x 2x 2
x C D 3;
xC1 xC1
 2 2
x x2
C2 3 D 0:
xC1 xC1

x2
Let y D , then y 2 C 2y 3 D 0 ) .y C 3/.y 1/ D 0, so y D 3 or 1.
xC1
x2
(i) yD 3) D 3 ) x 2 C 3x C 3 D 0, no real solution.
xC1
6 Lecture 1 Fractional Equations

p
x2 1 5
(ii) y D 1 ) D 1 ) x2 x 1 D 0 ) x1 D ; x2 D
p x C 1 2
1C 5
:
2

Testing Questions (A)

x 3 C 4x 2 C 2x 8 2x 3 C 5x 2 C 4x
1: Solve the equation D .
x 2 C 2x 3 2x 2 C x C 1

x C1 xC6 xC2 x C5
2: Solve the equation C D C .
x C2 xC7 xC3 x C6

1 1 1 11
3: Solve the equation C C


C D .
.x 1/x x.x C 1/ .x C 9/.x C 10/ 12

1 1 1
4: Solve the equation C C D 0.
x 2 C 11x 8 x 2 C 2x 8 x2 13x 8

x2 5
5: Solve the equation x 2 C D .
.x C 1/2 4

3x 2 C 4x 1 x 2 C 4x C 1
6: Solve the equation D 2 .
3x 2 4x 1 x 4x C 1

7: Find all the real solutions .x; y; z/ of the following system

9x 2 3 9y 2 3 9z 2 3
D y; D z; D x:
1 C 9x 2 2 1 C 9y 2 2 1 C 9z 2 2

8: (RUSMO/1993) Find all positive solutions of the system of fractional equa-

 Lecture Notes on Mathematical Olympiad 7

tions
1
x1 C D 4;
x2
1
x2 C D 1;
x3
1
x3 C D 4;
x4
1
x4 C D 1;
x5
::
:
1
x99 C D 4;
x100
1
x100 C D 1:
x1
aCx bCx 5
9: Solve the equation in x: C D .
bCx aCx 2
aCb aCc 2.a C b C c/
10: Solve the equation in x: C D (where aCb; aC
bCx xCc xCbCc
c; b C c; a C b C c are all not zero).
x xC1 4x C a
11: Given that the equation C D has only one real root,
xC1 x x.x C 1/
find the value of real number a.

Testing Questions (B)

x2 x C 1 xC1
1: Solve equation 2
C 2 D 1.
x C2 x xC1
x 3 C 7x 2 C 24x C 30 2x 3 C 11x 2 C 36x C 45
2: Solve equation D .
x 2 C 5x C 13 2x 2 C 7x C 20
3: (RUSMO/2005) It is known that there is such a number s such that if real
numbers a; b; c; d are all neither 0 nor 1, satisfying a C b C c C d D s and
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
C C C D s, then C C C D s. Find s.
a b c d 1 a 1 b 1 c 1 d
4: (VIETNAM/2007) Solve the system of equations
12 2 12 6
1 D p ; and 1C Dp :
y C 3x x y C 3x y
8 Lecture 1 Fractional Equations

5: (BELARUS/2005) Find all triples .x; y; z/ with x; y; z 2 .0; 1/ satisfying

   
1 1 1
xC 1 yC 1 zC 1
2x 2y  2z

 xy   yz  zx
D 1 1 1 :
z x y

6: (NORTH-EUROPEAN/2006) Given that x; y; z are real numbers which are

not all equal, satisfying
1 1 1
xC D y C D z C D k;
y z x

where k is a real number. Find all possible values of k.

7: (GREECE/TST/2009) Find all real solutions .x; y; z/ of equation

.x C 2/2 .y C 4/2 .z C 6/2

C C D 36;
yCz 2 zCx 4 xCy 6
giving x; y; z > 3.
8: (BULGARIA/2004) Given the system of equations
8
< x 2 C y 2 D a2 C 2;
1 1 .a 2 R/:
: C D a:
x y

(a) Solve the system when a D 0;

(b) Find range of a such that the system has exactly two solutions.
9: (CZECH-POLISH-SLOVAK/2004) Solve the system of equations
1 x 1 y 1 z
D C 1; D C 1; D C 1;
xy z yz x zx y
where x; y; z are real numbers.