The LCD is 12x(x+1). Put that over 1, like this Multiply every term on both sides by it, like this: Then cancel like this: and what's left is We don't need to write the 1's in the denominators, so we have: Distribute: Combine like terms on the left: Swap sides to get the x² term on the left Subtract the entire right side from both sides to get 0 on the right That factors as Edwin