SOLUTION: Simplify the complex fraction w+3 ------ 4w ----- w-3 ----- 2w

Algebra ->  Polynomials-and-rational-expressions -> SOLUTION: Simplify the complex fraction w+3 ------ 4w ----- w-3 ----- 2w      Log On


   

Question 97287: Simplify the complex fraction
w+3
------
4w
-----
w-3
-----
2w
Found 2 solutions by stanbon, ptaylor:
Answer by stanbon(75887) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Simplify the complex fraction
[(w+3)/4w] / [(w-3)/2w]
Invert the denominator and multiply:
[(w+3)/4w] * [2w/(w-3)]
Cancel the 2w factor common to numerator and denominator to get:
= [(w+3)/2(w-3)]
=============
Cheers,
Stan H.


Answer by ptaylor(2198) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
This problem represents one fraction being divided by another fraction. In other words, we have the general form:
%28a%2Fb%29%2F%28c%2Fd%29 where a%2Fb is the numerator and c%2Fd is the denominator and in this problem:
a=w+3
b=4w
c=w-3
d=2w
Now we will simplify %28a%2Fb%29%2F%28c%2Fd%29 and then substitute the values for a,b,c & d:
We can simplify this complex fraction by making the denominator equal to 1. we do this by multiplying both the numerator and denominator by d%2Fc and we get:
%28%28a%2Fb%29%28d%2Fc%29%29%2F%28%28c%2Fd%29%28d%2Fc%29%29 and this gives us:
%28%28ad%29%2F%28bc%29%29%2F1 or %28ad%29%2F%28bc%29 now substituting for a,b,c&d, we get:
%28%282w%29%28w%2B3%29%29%2F%28%284w%29%28w-3%29%29 and this reduces to:
%28w%2B3%29%2F%282%28w-3%29%29

Hope this helps-----ptaylor