Mathematics

5. RATIONAL EXPRESSIONS
n Rational expressions

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f(x)
Rational expression is an algebraic expression which is of the form where f(x) and g (x) are polynomials
g(x)

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and g(x) is not a zero polynomial.
Note :

a n
f(x)
l Every polynomial is a rational expression as f(x) can be written as .
1

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f(x)
l is not a rational expression if either numerator f(x) or denominator g(x) or both f(x) and g(x) are not

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g(x)

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polynomials.

n Rational expressions in lowest terms

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f(x)
Let f(x) and g(x) have integer coefficients and HCF of f(x) and g(x) is 1, then the rational expression is said

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g(x)

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to be in its lowest terms.
If HCF of f(x) and g(x) is not equal to 1, then by cancelling HCF of f(x) and g(x) from both numerator and

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denominator, we can reduce the given rational expression to its lowest term.

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n Addition/subtraction of rational expressions

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f(x) h(x) f(x) h(x) f(x) p(x) + h(x)g(x)
The sum of any two rational expressions and is written as + = If the
g(x) p(x)

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g(x) p(x) g(x) p(x)

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f(x) h(x) f(x) + h(x)
denominators g(x) and p(x) are equal then + =

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g(x) p(x) g(x)

f(x) h(x) f(x) p(x) - h(x) g(x)

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The difference of the above rational expressions can be written as - =
g(x) p(x) g(x) p(x)

Note :

l Sum or difference of two rational expression is also a rational expression.

f(x) -f(x) f(x) f(x) æ - f(x) ö

l For any rational expression , is called the additive inverse of . i.e., +ç ÷=0
g(x) g(x) g(x) g(x) è g(x) ø

x + 1 3x - 2
Ex. Simplify +
2x - 1 x - 1

x + 1 3x - 2 (x + 1)(x - 1) + (3x - 2)(2x - 1) x 2 - 1 + 6x 2 - 7x + 2 7x 2 - 7x + 1

Sol. + = = = 2
2x - 1 x - 1 (2x - 1) (x - 1) 2x2 - 3x + 1 2x - 3x + 1

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Class X
n Multiplication of rational expressions

f(x) h(x) f(x) h(x) f(x).h(x)

The product of two rational expressions and is given by ´ =

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g(x) p(x) g(x) p(x) g(x).p(x)

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Note :

l The process of finding the

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(i) product of two rational expressions is similar to the process of finding the product of two rational numbers.

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(ii) product of two rational expressions is also a rational expression. After finding the product of two rational
expression must be put in its lowest terms.

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n Division of rational expressions

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f(x) h(x) f(x) h(x) f(x) p(x) f(x) p(x)
Let and be two non-zero rational expressions, then ¸ = ´ i.e., which is

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g(x) p(x) g(x) p(x) g(x) h(x) g(x) h(x)
also a rational expression.

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Note :

l The process of dividing two rational expressions is similar to the process of dividing two rational numbers.

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y T
u d
S t
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 Mathematics
RATIONAL EXPRESSIONS EXERCISE
1. The expression to be added to (5x2 – 7x + 2) to æ x2 + 8x + 12 ö
produce (7x2 – 1) is :- 8. çç 2 ÷÷ in lowest terms is :-

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(1) 2x2 + 7x + 3 (2) 2x2 + 7x – 3 è x + 4x - 12 ø

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(3) 12x2 – 7x + 1 (4) 2x2 – 3
x+2 x+6
2. What must be added to 1 – x + x2 – 2x3 to produce (1) (2)
x -2 x-2

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x3 ?
(1) x3 – x2 + x – 1 (2) –1 + x + x2 – 3x3 x+2 x-6

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(3) 3x3 – x2 + x – 1 (4) None of these (3) (4)
x+6 x -2
3. What must be added to the sum of 4x2 + 3x – 7

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9. The expression
and 3x2 + 6x + 5 to get 1 ?
(1) 7x2 + 9x – 3 (2) 3 – 9x – 7x2 (x - 1)(x - 2)(x2 - 9x + 14)

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simplifies to :-
(3) 7x2 + 9x – 2 (4) None of these (x - 7)(x2 - 3x + 2)
4.

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What should be subtracted from 6x3 – 2x2 + 9x +
(1) (x – 1) (2) (x – 2)
2 so as to get 10x3 – x2 – 7x + 10 ?

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(1) –4x3 – x2 + 16x – 8 1
(3) (x – 7) (4)
(2) 4x3 + x2 – 16x + 8 (x - 7)

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(3) 16x3 – 3x2 + 2x + 12 10. The simplified form of the rational expression
(4) None of these
æ x2 öæ x - y ö

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æ x +1 2ö çç 2 - 1÷ ç + 2 ÷ is
֏ y

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2
5. ç 2 - ÷ expressed as a rational expression is è x - y ø ø
è x -1 x ø

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x y
(x + 2) x2 - 2 (1) (2)
(1) – (2) (x + y) (x + y)

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x(x - 1) x(x2 - 1)
y x

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1 2(x + 1) (3) (4)
(3) (4) (x - y) (x - y)
x(x + 1) (x 3 - 1)

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6. The rational expression which should be subtracted (x2 - y2 ) (xy + y2 )

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11. The simplified form of ´
(x2 + 2xy + y2 ) (x 2 - xy)
æ x2 + 2 ö æ x2 + 6x - 1 ö

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from çç x - 1 ÷÷ to get çç 2
÷÷ is :- is :-
è ø è x -1 ø
x x y
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x2 + x - 3 x2 – x - 6 (1) (2) (3) (4)
(1) (2) x y x+y x-y
x +1 x +1
1+ x 1 2a + 1
x2 + x - 6 x+3 12. If a = then + 2 is equal to :-
(3) (4) 2- x' a +1 a -1
x -1 x -1
7. The value of (1 + x)(2 + x) (1 - x)(2 - x)
(1) (2)
(2x - 1) (x - 2)
æ 1 öæ 1 öæ 1 öæ 1 ö
ç 1 + x + 1 ÷ ç 1 + x + 2 ÷ ç 1 + x + 3 ÷ ç 1 + x + 4 ÷ is
è øè øè øè ø
(1 + x)(2 - x) (1 - x)(2 - x)
(3) (4)
1 2x - 1 2x + 1
1
(1) 1+ (2)
x+5 x+5
2T 1 - T2
13. If x = 2 and y = , then (x2 + y2) is :-
x +1 x+5 (1 + T ) 1 + T2
(3) (4)
x+5 x +1
(1) 0 (2) 1 (3) T2 (4) T4
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Class X

æ x2 - 5x + 6 x2 - 5x + 4 ö æ x2 - 7x + 12 x2 - 13x + 42 x2 + 7x + 10 ö
çç 2 ´ 2 ÷÷ in simplified form is 19. çç 2 ´ ´ 2 ÷
14. x2 - x - 6 x - 10x + 24 ÷ø
è x - 9x + 20 x - 3x + 2 ø è x - 2x - 35
in simplified form is :-

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x -2 x -3
(1) (2) x -1 x-6 x-7
x-3 x-5 (1) (2) (3) (4) 1

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x-3 x+7 x + 12
x -2 x-5
1 - x 4 1 + x2 1

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(3) (4) ¸ ´
x-5 x -2 20. The value of is :
1–x x x(1 + x)
15. Which of the following statements are correct ?

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1. Every polynomial is a rational expression. 1
(1) (2) 1 + x (3) 1 – x2 (4) 1
x

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2. Every rational expression is a polynomial
3. Degree of (x5 – 7x2 + 3) is 5. æx ö
ç y -1 ÷

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Of these statement the correct ones are :
(1) 1 & 2 (2) 2 & 3 21. The value of ç ÷ is :
ç1 - x ÷

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(3) 1 & 3 (4) 1, 2 & 3 ç y ÷ø
è
16. Which of the following statements is correct ?

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(1) The sum of two rational expressions is a rational x
(1) 0 (2) 1 (3) –1 (4)
expression.

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(2) The product of two rational expressions is not
always a rational expression. (x + y)2 - (x - y)2
22. is equal to :
x 2 y - xy 2

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(3) The difference of two rational expressions is not
always a rational expression.

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1 1 2 4
(4) The division of a rational expression by a non- (1) (2) (3) (4)
xy x-y x-y x-y
zero rational expression need not be rational

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expression. 23. The value of

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a b 1 1 æ x-3 2x - 1 2x + 5 ö
ç 2 + 2 – 2 ÷ is :
17. If x = and y = , then + is equal to è x - x - 6 2x + 5x - 3 x + 5x + 6 ø
a+b a-b x y

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(1) 1 (2) 0
ab ab

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(1) (2) æ x -3ö
a 2 + b2 a2 - b2

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(3) – 1 (4) ç ÷
è x -2ø
a 2 + b2 a2 - b2 24. The value of

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(3) (4)
ab ab
é x 2 - (y - z)2 y2 – (x - z)2 z2 - (x – y)2 ù
ê 2 2
+ + ú is :
æ 2x - 8 8x + 32 ö ë (x + z) - y (x + y)2 - z2 (y + z)2 - x 2 û Node5\e\Data\CBSE-2016\10th\Advance\CCP\Maths-1\5_Rationsal Expression (Th. + Ex.).p65

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18. çç 2 ´ ÷ on simplification gives :
è (x - 4) (x2 + 4) ÷ø (1) 0 (2) 1 (3) – 1 (4) None

æ x3 - 27 ö
4 2 25. The simplified form of ç 2 ÷ is :
(1) (2) è x + 3x + 9 ø
x2 + 4 x-2

2 1 x -3 1
2 2 (1) (x – 3) (2) (3) (4)
(3) (4) 2 (x - 3) x+3 x+3
x+2 x -4

ANSWER KEY
Que. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
A ns. 2 3 2 1 1 1 4 1 2 3 1 3 2 2 4
Que. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A ns. 1 3 1 4 4 3 4 2 2 1

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