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In mathematics, the method of clearing denominators, also called clearing fractions, is a technique for simplifying an equation equating two expressions that each are a sum of rational expressions – which includes simple fractions.
In the case of two nested square roots, the following theorem completely solves the problem of denesting. [2]If a and c are rational numbers and c is not the square of a rational number, there are two rational numbers x and y such that + = if and only if is the square of a rational number d.
In algebra, the partial fraction decomposition or partial fraction expansion of a rational fraction (that is, a fraction such that the numerator and the denominator are both polynomials) is an operation that consists of expressing the fraction as a sum of a polynomial (possibly zero) and one or several fractions with a simpler denominator.
where x is a variable we are interested in solving for, we can use cross-multiplication to determine that x = b c d . {\displaystyle x={\frac {bc}{d}}.} For example, suppose we want to know how far a car will travel in 7 hours, if we know that its speed is constant and that it already travelled 90 miles in the last 3 hours.
A rational algebraic expression (or rational expression) is an algebraic expression that can be written as a quotient of polynomials, such as x 2 + 4x + 4. An irrational algebraic expression is one that is not rational, such as √ x + 4.
Solving an equation symbolically means that expressions can be used for representing the solutions. 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.
This is useful in solving such recurrences, since by using partial fraction decomposition we can write any proper rational function as a sum of factors of the form 1 / (ax + b) and expand these as geometric series, giving an explicit formula for the Taylor coefficients; this is the method of generating functions.
In the first step both numbers were divided by 10, which is a factor common to both 120 and 90. 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.