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trying to help granddaughter with algebra?
The problem and work so far:
( 2 - a^2 / a^2 + a ) + ( 3a + 4 / 3a + 3 )
( 2 - a^2 / a^2 + 3a + 3 ) + ( 3a + 4 / a^2 + 3a + 3 )
2 - a^2 + 3a +4
-----------------------
a^2 + 3a + 3
6 - a^2 + 3a
---------------------
a^2 + 3a + 3
2 - a^2 + 3a
------------------
a^2 + 3a + 3
-a^2 + 3a +2
--------------------
a^2 + 3a + 1
And that's as far as we got. Is there a mistake somewhere? I don't know how to get the correct answer out of the last equation--it's been quite a while since I've done algebra so what is it that I forgot?
The correct answer is:
2 ( a + 3 )
------------------
3a ( a + 1 )
Thanks for any help....
1 Answer
- 8 years agoFavorite Answer
There is a mistake in the first step. When you want to combine the two fractions, you have to make sure to find the common denominator. Once you find this common denominator multiply both top and bottom of the fraction to achieve the common denominator.
An easy way to find the common denominator would be to multiply the two denominators by each other to get (a^2+a)*(3a+3). This means the first numerator has to be multiplied by (3a +3) and the second numerator has to be multiplied by (a^2+a) before being able to combine the two fractions.
