1.08 Fractional
Equations
College
Algebra: One Step at a Time. Page
130 -133: #5
NEW
PROBLEMS: #5
Dr. Robert J. Rapalje
Seminole State College of Florida
Altamonte Springs Campus
To
see Section 1.08,
with detailed explanations, examples, exercises, and answers,
click here!
p. 132. # 5.
Notice
that this is a fractional equation. The first step is to find the LCD,
which is 
, and multiply both sides of the equation by the LCD,
being careful NOT to allow any of the denominators to be zero. In other
words, in this problem, you must be careful that
and 
.
This looks
pretty ugly, but when you reduce all the fractions, it really is not bad.
In fact, ALL THE
DENOMINATORS DIVIDE OUT!!
When you reduce all the fractions, this is what is left—NO
FRACTIONS!!
There are
at least two ways to solve this. Probably the easiest is to add
to each side:
Divide
both sides by 4: 
Therefore,
or 
Both
answers are valid, since neither value of x makes the
denominator zero.
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