Rational Equations

Rational equations are equations containing rational expressions (or expressions with fractions that contain real numbers and/or variables). Some examples of rational equations:

• Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \frac{1}{8}x + 2 = \frac{1}{4}x }
• ${\frac {1}{x+1}}={\frac {2}{3}}$
• ${\frac {y^{2}}{3y+7}}={\frac {y}{6}}$

Steps to solving rational equations:

1. Note any value of the variable that would make any denominator zero.
2. Find the least common denominator of all denominators in the equation.
3. Clear the fractions by multiplying both sides of the equation by the LCD.
4. Solve the resulting equation.
5. Check: If any values found in step 1 are algebraic solutions, discard them. Check any remaining solutions in the original equation.

Example problem: Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 1 - \frac{1}{x} = \frac{2}{x^2} }

1. If x = 0, the denominator of ${\frac {1}{x}}$ and ${\frac {2}{x^{2}}}$ will be 0.
2. The least common denominator of all terms in the equation is Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle x^2 } .
3. Multiplying each side of the equation Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 1 - \frac{1}{x} = \frac{2}{x^2} } with $x^{2}$ gives us $x^{2}-x=2$
4. Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle x^2 - x = 2  \to   x^2 - x - 2 = 0  \to   (x - 2)(x + 1) = 0  \to   x = -1, x = 2 }
5. None of these solutions were noted in step 1, so we can check our two solutions:

Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle x = -1} :

Resources

• Solve Rational Equations, OpenStax
• Solving Rational Equations (Example), The Organic Chemistry Tutor
• Solving Rational Equations with Different Denominators (Example), The Organic Chemistry Tutor