Complex Rational Expressions
Learning Outcomes
- Simplify complex rational expressions
Example
Simplify.[latex]\displaystyle\dfrac{\,\frac{12}{35}\,}{\,\frac{6}{7}\,}[/latex]
Answer: Rewrite the complex fraction as a division problem.
[latex]\displaystyle\large \frac{\,\frac{12}{35}\,}{\,\frac{6}{7}\,}=\normalsize\frac{12}{35}\div \frac{6}{7}[/latex]
Rewrite the division as multiplication and take the reciprocal of the divisor.[latex] =\frac{12}{35}\cdot \frac{7}{6}[/latex]
Factor the numerator and denominator looking for common factors before multiplying numbers together.[latex] \begin{array}{l}=\frac{2\cdot 6\cdot 7}{5\cdot 7\cdot 6}\\\\=\frac{2}{5}\cdot \frac{6\cdot 7}{6\cdot 7}\\\\=\frac{2}{5}\cdot 1\end{array}[/latex]
[latex-display]\displaystyle\Large \frac{\,\frac{12}{35}\,}{\,\frac{6}{7}\,}=\normalsize\frac{2}{5}[/latex-display]Example
Simplify.[latex]\displaystyle\Large \frac{\,\frac{3}{4}+\frac{1}{2}\,}{\,\frac{4}{5}-\frac{1}{10}\,}[/latex]
Answer: First combine the numerator and denominator by adding or subtracting. You may need to find a common denominator first. Note that we do not show the steps for finding a common denominator, so please review that in the previous section if you are confused.
[latex]\displaystyle\Large \frac{\,\frac{3}{4}+\frac{1}{2}\,}{\,\frac{4}{5}-\frac{1}{10}\,}=\frac{\,\frac{5}{4}\,}{\,\frac{7}{10}\,}[/latex]
Rewrite the complex fraction as a division problem.[latex]\displaystyle\Large \frac{\,\,\frac{5}{4}\,\,}{\,\,\frac{7}{10}\,\,}=\normalsize\frac{5}{4}\div \frac{7}{10}[/latex]
Rewrite the division as multiplication and take the reciprocal of the divisor.[latex] =\dfrac{5}{4}\cdot \frac{10}{7}[/latex]
Multiply and simplify as needed.[latex]\dfrac{5}{4}\cdot \frac{10}{7}=\frac{5\cdot5\cdot2}{2\cdot2\cdot7}=\frac{25}{14}[/latex]
[latex-display]\displaystyle\Large \frac{\,\frac{3}{4}+\frac{1}{2}\,}{\,\frac{4}{5}-\frac{1}{10}\,}=\normalsize\frac{25}{14}[/latex-display]Complex Rational Expressions
A complex rational expression is a quotient with rational expressions in the dividend, divisor, or in both. Simplify these in the exact same way as you would a complex fraction.Example
Simplify.[latex]\displaystyle\Large \frac{\,\,\frac{x+5}{{{x}^{2}}-16}\,}{\,\,\frac{{{x}^{2}}-\,\,25}{x-4}\,}[/latex]
Answer: Rewrite the complex rational expression as a division problem.
[latex] =\frac{x+5}{{{x}^{2}}-16}\div \frac{{{x}^{2}}-25}{x-4}[/latex]
Rewrite the division as multiplication and take the reciprocal of the divisor. Note that the excluded values for this are [latex]-4[/latex], [latex]4[/latex], [latex]-5[/latex], and [latex]5[/latex], because those values make the denominators of one of the fractions zero.[latex] =\frac{x+5}{{{x}^{2}}-16}\cdot \frac{x-4}{{{x}^{2}}-25}[/latex]
Factor the numerator and denominator, looking for common factors. In this case, [latex]x+5[/latex] and [latex]x–4[/latex] are common factors of the numerator and denominator.[latex] \begin{array}{l}=\frac{(x+5)(x-4)}{(x+4)(x-4)(x+5)(x-5)}\\\\=\frac{1}{(x+4)(x-5)}\end{array}[/latex]
[latex-display]\displaystyle\Large \frac{\,\,\frac{x+5}{{{x}^{2}}-16}\,}{\,\,\frac{{{x}^{2}}-25}{x-4}\,}\normalsize=\frac{1}{(x+4)(x-5)},x\ne -4,4,-5,5[/latex-display]Example
Simplify.[latex] \displaystyle\dfrac{\,\,\normalsize1-\dfrac{9}{{{x}^{2}}}\,\,}{\,\,\normalsize1+\dfrac{5}{x}\normalsize+\dfrac{6}{{{x}^{2}}}\,\,}[/latex]
Answer: Combine the expressions in the numerator and denominator. To do this, rewrite the expressions using a common denominator. There is an excluded value of [latex]0[/latex] because this makes the denominators of the fractions zero.
[latex] \begin{array}{l}=\frac{\frac{{{x}^{2}}}{{{x}^{2}}}-\frac{9}{{{x}^{2}}}}{\frac{{{x}^{2}}}{{{x}^{2}}}+\frac{5x}{{{x}^{2}}}+\frac{6}{{{x}^{2}}}}\\\\=\frac{\frac{{{x}^{2}}-9}{{{x}^{2}}}}{\frac{{{x}^{2}}+5x+6}{{{x}^{2}}}}\end{array}[/latex]
Rewrite the complex rational expression as a division problem. (When you are comfortable with the step of rewriting the complex rational fraction as a division problem, you might skip this step and go straight to rewriting it as multiplication.)[latex] =\frac{{{x}^{2}}-9}{{{x}^{2}}}\div \frac{{{x}^{2}}+5x+6}{{{x}^{2}}}[/latex]
Rewrite the division as multiplication and take the reciprocal of the divisor.[latex] =\frac{{{x}^{2}}-9}{{{x}^{2}}}\cdot \frac{{{x}^{2}}}{{{x}^{2}}+5x+6}[/latex]
Factor the numerator and denominator looking for common factors. In this case, [latex]x+3[/latex] and [latex]x^{2}[/latex] are common factors. We can now see there are two additional excluded values, [latex]-2[/latex] and [latex]-3[/latex].[latex]\begin{array}{l}=\frac{(x+3)(x-3){{x}^{2}}}{{{x}^{2}}(x+3)(x+2)}\\\\=\frac{(x-3)}{(x+2)}\cdot \frac{{{x}^{2}}(x+3)}{{{x}^{2}}(x+3)}\end{array}[/latex]
[latex-display] \frac{1-\frac{9}{{{x}^{2}}}}{1+\frac{5}{x}+\frac{6}{{{x}^{2}}}}=\frac{x-3}{x+2},x\ne -3,-2,0[/latex-display]Example
Simplify.[latex] \frac{1-\frac{9}{{{x}^{2}}}}{1+\frac{5}{x}+\frac{6}{{{x}^{2}}}}[/latex]
Answer: Before combining the expressions, find a common denominator for all of the rational expressions. In this case, [latex]x^{2}[/latex] is a common denominator. Multiply by [latex]1[/latex] in the form of a fraction with the common denominator in both the numerator and denominator. In this case, multiply by [latex] \frac{{{x}^{2}}}{{{x}^{2}}}[/latex]. There is an excluded value of [latex]0[/latex] because this makes the denominators of the fractions zero.
[latex] \begin{array}{l}=\frac{1-\frac{9}{{{x}^{2}}}}{1+\frac{5}{x}+\frac{6}{{{x}^{2}}}}\cdot \frac{{{x}^{2}}}{{{x}^{2}}}\\\\=\frac{\left( 1-\frac{9}{{{x}^{2}}} \right){{x}^{2}}}{\left( 1+\frac{5}{x}+\frac{6}{{{x}^{2}}} \right){{x}^{2}}}\\\\=\frac{{{x}^{2}}-9}{{{x}^{2}}+5x+6}\end{array}[/latex]
Notice that the expression is no longer complex! You can simplify by factoring and identifying common factors. We can now see there are two additional excluded values, [latex]-2[/latex] and [latex]-3[/latex].[latex] \begin{array}{l}=\frac{(x+3)(x-3)}{(x+3)(x+2)}\\\\=\frac{x+3}{x+3}\cdot \frac{x-3}{x+2}\\\\=1\cdot \frac{x-3}{x+2}\end{array}[/latex]
[latex-display] \frac{1-\frac{9}{{{x}^{2}}}}{1+\frac{5}{x}+\frac{6}{{{x}^{2}}}}=\frac{x-3}{x+2},x\ne -3,-2,0[/latex-display]Summary
Complex rational expressions are quotients with rational expressions in the divisor, dividend, or both. When written in fraction form, they appear to be fractions within a fraction. These can be simplified by first treating the quotient as a division problem. Then you can rewrite the division as multiplication and take the reciprocal of the divisor. Or you can simplify the complex rational expression by multiplying both the numerator and denominator by a denominator common to all rational expressions within the complex expression. This can help simplify the complex expression even faster.Licenses & Attributions
CC licensed content, Shared previously
- Ex 1: Simplify a Complex Fraction (No Variables). Authored by: James Sousa (Mathispower4u.com) for Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution.
- Unit 15: Rational Expressions, from Developmental Math: An Open Program. Provided by: Monterey Institute of Technology Located at: https://www.nroc.org/. License: CC BY: Attribution.
- Ex 2: Simplify a Complex Fraction (Variables). Authored by: James Sousa (Mathispower4u.com) . License: CC BY: Attribution.
- Ex 3: Simplify a Complex Fraction (Variables). Authored by: James Sousa (Mathispower4u.com) for Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution.