Adding and Subtracting Rational Expressions

Adding and Subtracting Rational Expressions

Student Outcomes

• Students perform addition and subtraction of rational expressions.

New York State Common Core Math Algebra II, Module 1, Lesson 25

Worksheets for Algebra 2

Classwork

Exercises 1–4

1. Calculate the following sum:

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Example 1

Perform the indicated operations below and simplify

Exercises 5–8

Perform the indicated operations for each problem below.

Example 2

Simplify the following expression.

Lesson Summary

In this lesson, we extended addition and subtraction of rational numbers to addition and subtraction of rational expressions. The process for adding or subtracting rational expressions can be summarized as follows:

• Find a common multiple of the denominators to use as a common denominator.
• Find equivalent rational expressions for each expression using the common denominator.
• Add or subtract the numerators as indicated and simplify if needed.

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