This week in PreCalc 11 we learned how to solve rational equations.

Rational equations are equations containing at least one fraction whose numerator or denominator is a variable.

There are two ways to solve rational equations, one of them is multiplying every term by each of the denominators or cross multiplication. Cross multiplication only works when there are two fractions and one is on each side of the equal sign (remember that a single number for example 4 is a fraction still because its over 1) I like multiplying the denominator better because multiplying by the denominator is a strategy that will work with every type of rational equation.

Example:

step 1: factor

step 2: multiply by the denominator

step 3: Non permissible values

step 4: solve

ex:  (there are no non- P values because there aren’t any variables in the denominator)