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This equation has two distinct solutions, x = 1 and x = 4, so the expression is undefined. In field theory, the expression a b {\textstyle {\frac {a}{b}}} is only shorthand for the formal expression ab −1 , where b −1 is the multiplicative inverse of b .
The simplified equation is not entirely equivalent to the original. For when we substitute y = 0 and z = 0 in the last equation, both sides simplify to 0, so we get 0 = 0, a mathematical truth. But the same substitution applied to the original equation results in x/6 + 0/0 = 1, which is mathematically meaningless.
Note that even simple equations like = are solved using cross-multiplication, since the missing b term is implicitly equal to 1: =. Any equation containing fractions or rational expressions can be simplified by multiplying both sides by the least common denominator.
For example, 20 apples divide into five groups of four apples, meaning that "twenty divided by five is equal to four". This is denoted as 20 / 5 = 4 , or 20 / 5 = 4 . [ 2 ] In the example, 20 is the dividend, 5 is the divisor, and 4 is the quotient.
6 1 2 1 1 −1 4 5 9. and would be written in modern notation as 6 1 / 4 , 1 1 / 5 , and 2 − 1 / 9 (i.e., 1 8 / 9 ). The horizontal fraction bar is first attested in the work of Al-Hassār (fl. 1200), [35] a Muslim mathematician from Fez, Morocco, who specialized in Islamic inheritance jurisprudence.
For example, the equation x + y = 2x – 1 is solved for the unknown x by the expression x = y + 1, because substituting y + 1 for x in the equation results in (y + 1) + y = 2(y + 1) – 1, a true statement. It is also possible to take the variable y to be the unknown, and then the equation is solved by y = x – 1.
An equation states that two expressions are equal using the symbol for equality, = (the equals sign). [31] One of the best-known equations describes Pythagoras' law relating the length of the sides of a right angle triangle: [ 32 ]
In the second step, they were divided by 3. The final result, 4 / 3 , is an irreducible fraction because 4 and 3 have no common factors other than 1. The original fraction could have also been reduced in a single step by using the greatest common divisor of 90 and 120, which is 30. As 120 ÷ 30 = 4, and 90 ÷ 30 = 3, one gets