Rational Expressions

Prayer

Let us remember that we

are in the Most Holy Presence
of God.
In the name of the Father, and
of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, amen.

St John Baptiste de La Salle, pray for

us.Live Jesus in our hearts, forever.
Reminders

1) Please do not forget to write

“present” in the chat box below.

2) Please use your USLS email

accounts to access the files in the
Google link posted in our chat
group.
Dates to Remember

August 23, 2021 – Rational Expressions (synchronous)

August 25, 2021 – Asynchronous
LMS period – Asynchronous/submission of problem set
August 30, 2021 – Holiday
September 1, 2021 – Module 1 (Online Quiz)
- 8:30 – 9:30 AM only
- password: ema100d
Desired Learning Outcome

1. Demonstrate the operations for rational expressions.

Learning Objectives

1. Perform the different operations for rational expressions.

Review

 Properties of Algebraic Expressions

 Order of Operations
 Operations of Algebraic Expressions
Review on Factoring
1) 3 − 12𝑥 2 = 3 ( 1 − 4𝑥 2 ) 3) 16𝑥 2 + 8𝑥 + 1 = (4𝑥)2 + 2 4𝑥 1 +12
= 3 [ 12 − (2𝑥)2 ] = (4𝑥 + 1)2
= 3 (1 + 2𝑥)(1 − 2𝑥)
4) 3𝑥 3 + 192 = 3 (𝑥 3 + 64)
2) 16𝑥 4 − 81 = (4𝑥 2 )2 − 92
= 3 (𝑥 3 + 43 )
= 4𝑥 2 + 9 (4𝑥 2 − 9)
= 3 (𝑥 + 4)(𝑥 2 − 4𝑥 + 16)
= 4𝑥 2 +9 [(2x)2 − 32 ]

= (4𝑥 2 + 9)(2𝑥 + 3)(2𝑥 − 3)

Rational Expression
• is a fractional expression in which both the numerator and the
denominator are polynomials
• is a quotient of two polynomials

1 2𝑥 − 1 𝑥2 − 1
𝐸𝑥.
𝑥 𝑥+1 𝑥2 + 1
Simplifying Rational Expressions

Step 1: Factor both the numerator and denominator of the fraction. Remember to
write the expressions in descending order, to factor out a negative number if the
leading coefficient is a negative number, and use various factoring techniques to
factor each expression.

Step 2: Reduce the fraction. To reduce the fraction, cancel out expressions in the
numerator and denominator that are exactly the same.

Step 3: Rewrite any remaining expressions in the numerator and denominator.

Simplifying Rational Expressions

𝑥 2 + 4𝑥 − 12 𝑥 + 6 ( 𝑥 − 2)
1) =
3𝑥 − 6 3 ( 𝑥 − 2)
𝑥+6
= , 𝑥 ≠2
3
12 + 𝑥 − 𝑥 2 4 − 𝑥 ( 3 + 𝑥)
2) =
2𝑥 2 − 9𝑥 + 4 (2𝑥 − 1)(𝑥 − 4)
−(𝑥 − 4)( 3 + 𝑥)
=
2𝑥 − 1 (𝑥 − 4)
3+𝑥
=− , 𝑥≠4
2𝑥 − 1
Multiplying Rational Expressions

2𝑥 2 + 𝑥 − 6 𝑥 3 − 3𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 (2𝑥 − 3)(𝑥 + 2) 𝑥 (𝑥 − 2)( 𝑥 − 1)

∙ = ∙
𝑥 2 + 4𝑥 − 5 4𝑥 2 − 6𝑥 𝑥 + 5 ( 𝑥 − 1) 2𝑥 (2𝑥 − 3)

𝑥 + 2 (𝑥 − 2)
=
2 ( 𝑥 + 5)

3
𝑥 ≠ 0, 𝑥 ≠ 1, 𝑥 ≠ −5, 𝑥≠
2
Dividing Rational Expressions
𝑥3 − 8 𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 + 4
𝐷𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒 2 𝑏𝑦
𝑥 −4 𝑥3 + 8

𝑥 3 − 8 𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 + 4 𝑥3 − 8 𝑥3 + 8
÷ = 2 ∙
𝑥2 − 4 𝑥3 + 8 𝑥 − 4 𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 + 4

(𝑥 − 2)(𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 + 4) (𝑥 + 2)(𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 + 4)
= ∙
(𝑥 + 2)(𝑥 − 2) (𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 + 4)

= 𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 + 4 , 𝑥 ≠ ±2
Subtracting Rational Expressions

𝑥 2 𝑥 3𝑥 + 4 − 2(𝑥 − 3)
− =
𝑥 − 3 3𝑥 + 4 (𝑥 − 3)(3𝑥 + 4)

3𝑥 2 + 4𝑥 − 2𝑥 + 6
=
𝑥 − 3 (3𝑥 + 4)

3𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 + 6
=
(𝑥 − 3)(3𝑥 + 4)
Combining Rational Expressions
3 2 𝑥+3 3 2 𝑥+3
− + 2 = − +
𝑥 − 1 𝑥 (𝑥 − 1) 𝑥 − 1 𝑥 (𝑥 + 1)(𝑥 − 1)

3(𝑥)(𝑥 + 1) 2 𝑥+1 𝑥−1 𝑥+3 𝑥

= − +
𝑥(𝑥 + 1)(𝑥 − 1) 𝑥 𝑥 + 1 𝑥 − 1 𝑥(𝑥 + 1)(𝑥 − 1)

3 𝑥 𝑥+1 −2 𝑥+1 𝑥−1 + 𝑥+3 𝑥

=
𝑥(𝑥 + 1)(𝑥 − 1)

3𝑥 2 + 3𝑥 − 2𝑥 2 + 2 + 𝑥 2 + 3𝑥
=
𝑥(𝑥 + 1)(𝑥 − 1)
3𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 2 + 𝑥 2 + (3𝑥 + 3𝑥) + 2
=
𝑥(𝑥 + 1)(𝑥 − 1)
Combining Rational Expressions
3 2 𝑥+3 3𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 2 + 𝑥 2 + (3𝑥 + 3𝑥) + 2
− + 2 =
𝑥 − 1 𝑥 (𝑥 − 1) 𝑥(𝑥 + 1)(𝑥 − 1)
2𝑥 2 + 6𝑥 + 2
=
𝑥(𝑥 + 1)(𝑥 − 1)

2 (𝑥 2 + 3𝑥 + 1)
=
𝑥(𝑥 + 1)(𝑥 − 1)
Complex Fractions
• fractional expressions with separate fractions in the numerator, denominator,
or both
• can be simplified by combining the fractions in its numerator into a single
fraction and then combining the fractions in its denominator into a
single fraction
• then invert the denominator and multiply

1 1
(𝑥 )
𝐸𝑥. 𝑥 ,
2
𝑥 +1 1
( 2 )
𝑥 +1
Simplifying Complex Fractions
2 2 −3 𝑥
( 𝑥 − 3) [ ]
= 𝑥
1 1 𝑥−1 −1
(1 − ) [ ]
𝑥 −1 𝑥−1
2 − 3𝑥
( 𝑥 )
=
𝑥 −2
(𝑥 −1)

2 − 3𝑥 𝑥 − 1
= ∙
𝑥 𝑥 −2

( 2 − 3𝑥)(𝑥 − 1)
= , 𝑥 ≠1
𝑥 ( 𝑥 − 2)
QUESTIONS