RATIONAL

EXPRESSIONS
Prepared by: Lara O. Rolan
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the lesson the student should be
able to:
1. Identify the rational expressions.

2. Demonstrate on how to simplify the rational

expressions.
3. Appreciate and develops interest in
mathematics.
 Rational Expressions

Rational Number is any number that can be represented as

a quotient of two integers 𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏, that is, where 𝑏 ≠ 0.
Such a number is called a fraction with 𝑎 as a numerator
and 𝑏 as the denominator.
Value of a Fraction Over the Set of Real Numbers
For all 𝑎, 𝑏 ∈ ℝ, the following hold true.
𝑎
= 𝑐 𝑖𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑓 𝑎 = 𝑏𝑐, 𝑏 ≠ 0
𝑏
𝑎 1
= 𝑎 1 ,𝑏 ≠ 0
𝑏 𝑏
𝑎
𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟 = 𝑐:
𝑏
If 𝑎 = 0 and 𝑏 ≠ 0, then 𝑐 = 0
If 𝑎 ≠ 0 and 𝑏 = 0, then 𝑐 is undeCined
If 𝑎 = 0 and 𝑏 = 0, then 𝑐 is indeterminate
Definition:

Definition: An algebraic fraction is an expression which is

a quotient of two algebraic expressions.
Definition: A rational expression is an algebraic fraction
whose numerator and denominator are both polynomials.
“Do good and good will
come to you.”
 Signs of Fractions
There are three signs associated with a fraction:
the sign of the fraction, the sign of the
numerator and the sign of the denominator.

If two of the signs of a fraction are changed the

value of the fraction does not change.

𝑎 −𝑎 𝑎
− = =
𝑏 𝑏 −𝑏
 Reducing Fractions to Lowest Terms
Definition: The cancellation law for fraction is the
process of taking out the common factor from
both the numerator and the denominator of a
fraction.
 Operations on
Rational Expressions
Example: Perform the indicated operations and then
simplify.
 3𝑥 4𝑦 1
−
3𝑥 + 2𝑦 2𝑥 − 3𝑦

3𝑥 2𝑥 − 3𝑦 − 4𝑦 3𝑥 + 2𝑦
= 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝐶𝐷
3𝑥 + 2𝑦 2𝑥 − 3𝑦

6𝑥 ! − 9𝑥𝑦 − 12𝑥𝑦 + 8𝑦 !
= 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑦
3𝑥 + 2𝑦 2𝑥 − 3𝑦

6𝑥 ! − 9𝑥𝑦 − 12𝑥𝑦 − 8𝑦 !
= 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑠
3𝑥 + 2𝑦 2𝑥 − 3𝑦

6𝑥 ! − 21𝑥𝑦 − 8𝑦 ! 6𝑥 ! − 21𝑥𝑦 − 8𝑦 !
= =
3𝑥 + 2𝑦 2𝑥 − 3𝑦 6𝑥 ! − 5𝑥𝑦 − 6𝑦 !
𝑎 − 3 𝑎 − 2 4𝑎 − 3 2
+ −
𝑎 + 2 4𝑎 − 3 𝑎 + 3

𝑎 − 3 4𝑎 − 3 𝑎 + 3 + 𝑎 − 2 𝑎 + 2 𝑎 + 3 − 4𝑎 − 3 𝑎 + 2 4𝑎 − 3
=
𝑎 + 2 4𝑎 − 3 𝑎 + 3

𝑎! − 9 4𝑎 − 3 + 𝑎! − 4 𝑎 + 3 − 16𝑎! − 24𝑎 + 9 𝑎 + 2
=
𝑎 + 2 4𝑎 − 3 𝑎 + 3

4𝑎! − 3𝑎" − 36𝑎 + 27 + 𝑎! + 3𝑎" − 4𝑎 − 12 − 16𝑎! − 24𝑎" + 9𝑎 + 32𝑎" − 48𝑎 + 18

=
𝑎 + 2 4𝑎 − 3 𝑎 + 3

4𝑎! − 3𝑎" − 36𝑎 + 27 + 𝑎! + 3𝑎" − 4𝑎 − 12 − 16𝑎! + 24𝑎" − 9𝑎 − 32𝑎" + 48𝑎 − 18

=
𝑎 + 2 4𝑎 − 3 𝑎 + 3

−11𝑎" − 8𝑎! − 𝑎 − 3
=
𝑎 + 2 4𝑎 − 3 𝑎 + 3
 2𝑥 + 𝑦 3𝑥 − 𝑦 5𝑥 + 𝑦 3
! ! + ! ! − !
2𝑥 − 𝑥𝑦 − 𝑦 3𝑥 + 2𝑥𝑦 − 𝑦 5𝑥 − 4𝑥𝑦 − 𝑦 !

2𝑥 + 𝑦 3𝑥 − 𝑦 5𝑥 + 𝑦
= + −
2𝑥 + 𝑦 𝑥 − 𝑦 3𝑥 − 𝑦 𝑥 + 𝑦 5𝑥 + 𝑦 𝑥 − 𝑦

1 1 1
= + −
𝑥−𝑦 𝑥+𝑦 𝑥−𝑦

1
=
𝑥+𝑦
𝑧 ! − 2𝑧 𝑤! − 4 𝑤! 4
! F ! F
𝑤 − 2𝑤 𝑤𝑧 − 𝑤𝑧 𝑤 + 2

𝑧 𝑧−2 𝑤−2 𝑤+2 𝑤!

= F F
𝑤 𝑤−2 𝑤𝑧 𝑧 − 1 𝑤+2

𝑧−2 1
= F
1 𝑧−1

𝑧−2
=
𝑧−1
 𝑎! − 𝑏 ! 𝑎+𝑏 ! 5
! ! ÷ !
2𝑎 − 9𝑎𝑏 − 5𝑏 𝑎 − 4𝑎𝑏 − 5𝑏 !

𝑎−𝑏 𝑎+𝑏 𝑎 + 𝑏 𝑎 − 5𝑏
= F
2𝑎 + 𝑏 𝑎 − 5𝑏 𝑎+𝑏 𝑎+𝑏

𝑎−𝑏
=
2𝑎 + 𝑏
 Definition:
A complex fraction is a fraction having one
or more fractions in either or both
numerator and denominator.
 1

Example: Simplify each of the following complex fractions.

11 20 3𝑥 + 4 𝑥 − 5
3− 𝑥 − ! =
𝑥 3𝑥 + 4 2𝑥 − 1
5 4
6+ − !
𝑥 𝑥 𝑥−5
3𝑥 ! − 11𝑥 − 20 =
2𝑥 − 1
𝑥 !
=
6𝑥 ! + 5𝑥 − 4
𝑥!
3𝑥 ! − 11𝑥 − 20
=
6𝑥 ! + 5𝑥 − 4
 2

Example: Simplify each of the following complex fractions.

𝑥 ! − 3𝑥 2𝑥 ! + 1 𝑥 ! − 6𝑥 " + 9𝑥 − 2𝑥 ! − 4𝑥 " − 𝑥 − 2
−
𝑥 ! + 7𝑥 + 10 𝑥 ! + 2𝑥 − 15 =
𝑥+2
2 1 2𝑥 − 6 − 2𝑥 + 1
− 2𝑥 − 1
2𝑥 ! + 9𝑥 − 5 𝑥 ! + 2𝑥 − 15
𝑥 𝑥−3 2𝑥 !
+1 −𝑥 ! − 10𝑥 " + 8𝑥 − 2
− = 𝑥+2
𝑥+2 𝑥+5 𝑥+5 𝑥−3 −5
=
2 1 2𝑥 − 1
− −𝑥 − 10𝑥 " + 8𝑥 − 2
! 2𝑥 − 1
2𝑥 − 1 𝑥 + 5 𝑥+5 𝑥−3 = 0
𝑥+2 −5
𝑥 𝑥 − 3 𝑥 − 3 − 2𝑥 ! + 1 𝑥 + 2 −2𝑥 # − 20𝑥 ! + 16𝑥 " − 4𝑥 + 𝑥 ! + 10𝑥 " − 8𝑥 + 2
=
𝑥+2 𝑥+5 𝑥−3 −5𝑥 − 10
= −2𝑥 − 19𝑥 + 26𝑥 " − 12𝑥 + 2
# !
2 𝑥 − 3 − 2𝑥 − 1 =
2𝑥 − 1 𝑥 + 5 𝑥 − 3 −5𝑥 − 10
 3

Example: Simplify each of the following complex fractions.

2 2 2 2𝑦 + 3 + 2 2𝑦 − 3
2𝑦 − 3 + 2𝑦 + 3 2𝑦 − 3 2𝑦 + 3
3 =
12𝑦 !
9 4𝑦 ! − 9
1− !
4𝑦
4𝑦 + 6 + 4𝑦 − 6
2 2𝑦 + 3 + 2 2𝑦 − 3 4𝑦 ! − 9
2𝑦 − 3 2𝑦 + 3 =
= 12𝑦 !
3 4𝑦 ! − 9
4𝑦 ! − 9
4𝑦 ! 8𝑦
=
12𝑦 !
2
=
3𝑦
 3

Example: Simplify each of the following complex fractions.

𝑎+𝑏 𝑏 𝑎+𝑏 𝑎𝑏
𝑎 = F
𝑎 𝑎−𝑏 𝑎+𝑏
𝑏
𝑎 𝑏
− 𝑏!
𝑏 𝑎 =
𝑎−𝑏
𝑏 𝑎+𝑏
= !𝑎 !
𝑎 −𝑏
𝑎𝑏
𝑏 𝑎+𝑏 𝑎𝑏
= F !
𝑎 𝑎 − 𝑏!
Activity 4A:
Perform the indicated operations and then simplify.
2 5 3
1. ) + −
𝑥+3 𝑥+1 𝑥+1 𝑥−2 𝑥+3 𝑥−2
𝑥 𝑥+𝑦 6 𝑥+𝑦
2. ) − + !
𝑥 + 3𝑦 𝑥 − 3𝑦 𝑥 − 9𝑦 !
𝑚! − 𝑛! + 𝑚 − 𝑛 𝑛 − 𝑝
3. ) ! ! F
𝑛 − 2𝑛𝑝 + 𝑝 𝑚−𝑛
𝑥" + 1 𝑥 ! − 𝑥 − 6 2𝑥 ! + 2𝑥
4. ) ! F ! F !
𝑥 + 3𝑥 + 2 𝑥 − 2𝑥 − 3 𝑥 − 𝑥 + 1
𝑥 ! + 2𝑥𝑦 + 𝑦 ! 𝑥 ! − 2𝑥𝑦 − 2𝑦 !
5. ) ! ! ÷
𝑥 −𝑦 2𝑥 ! − 𝑥𝑦 − 𝑦 !
𝑎𝑥 + 𝑎𝑏 + 𝑐𝑥 + 𝑏𝑐 𝑥 ! − 2𝑎𝑥 + 𝑎!
6. )
𝑎! − 𝑥 ! 𝑥 ! + 𝑏 + 𝑎 𝑥 + 𝑎𝑏
Activity 4B:
Simplify each of the following complex fractions.
3 10 1
4−𝑥− ! 1− 2
1. ) 𝑥 1+𝑚−4
11 5 4. )
12 + − 1
𝑥 𝑥! 1+𝑚
𝑟+𝑤 𝑟−𝑤
+𝑟+𝑤 𝑥
𝑟 − 𝑤
2. ) 𝑟 − 𝑤 𝑟 + 𝑤 𝑥−𝑦
𝑤 +1
𝑟+𝑤−𝑟−𝑤 5. ) 𝑦
𝑦− 𝑤
3 1+
2− 1 𝑦
5+4 𝑎+6
3. ) 𝑎 !−9
3 6. )
1+ 𝑎 𝑎+4
2 −
𝑎−3 𝑎+3
Thank you!
Prepared by: Lara O. Rolan