5.

RATIONAL EXPRESSIONS
n Rational expressions

f(x)
Rational expression is an algebraic expression which is of the form where f(x) and g (x) are polynomials
g(x)
and g(x) is not a zero polynomial.
Note :

f(x)
l Every polynomial is a rational expression as f(x) can be written as .
1

f(x)
l g(x)
is not a rational expression if either numerator f(x) or denominator g(x) or both f(x) and g(x) are not

polynomials.

n Rational expressions in lowest terms

f(x)
Let f(x) and g(x) have integer coefficients and HCF of f(x) and g(x) is 1, then the rational expression is said
g(x)
to be in its lowest terms.
If HCF of f(x) and g(x) is not equal to 1, then by cancelling HCF of f(x) and g(x) from both numerator and
denominator, we can reduce the given rational expression to its lowest term.

n Addition/subtraction of rational expressions

f(x) h(x) f(x) h(x) f(x) p(x) + h(x)g(x)

The sum of any two rational expressions and is written as + = If the
g(x) p(x) g(x) p(x) g(x) p(x)

f(x) h(x) f(x) + h(x)

denominators g(x) and p(x) are equal then + =
g(x) p(x) g(x)

f(x) h(x) f(x) p(x) - h(x) g(x)

The difference of the above rational expressions can be written as - =
g(x) p(x) g(x) p(x)

Note :

l Sum or difference of two rational expression is also a rational expression.

f(x) -f(x) f(x) f(x) æ - f(x) ö

l For any rational expression , is called the additive inverse of . i.e., +ç ÷=0
g(x) g(x) g(x) g(x) è g(x) ø

x + 1 3x - 2
Ex. Simplify +
2x - 1 x - 1

x + 1 3x - 2 (x + 1)(x - 1) + (3x - 2)(2x - 1) x 2 - 1 + 6x 2 - 7x + 2 7x 2 - 7x + 1

Sol. + = = = 2
2x - 1 x - 1 (2x - 1) (x - 1) 2x2 - 3x + 1 2x - 3x + 1
n Multiplication of rational expressions

f(x) h(x) f(x) h(x) f(x).h(x)

The product of two rational expressions and is given by ´ =
g(x) p(x) g(x) p(x) g(x).p(x)

Note :

l The process of finding the

(i) product of two rational expressions is similar to the process of finding the product of two rational numbers.
(ii) product of two rational expressions is also a rational expression. After finding the product of two rational
expression must be put in its lowest terms.

n Division of rational expressions

f(x) h(x) f(x) h(x) f(x) p(x) f(x) p(x)

Let and be two non-zero rational expressions, then ¸ = ´ i.e., which is
g(x) p(x) g(x) p(x) g(x) h(x) g(x) h(x)
also a rational expression.
Note :

l The process of dividing two rational expressions is similar to the process of dividing two rational numbers.
RATIONAL EXPRESSIONS EXERCISE
1. The expression to be added to (5x2 – 7x + 2) to æ x2 + 8x + 12 ö
produce (7x2 – 1) is :- 8. çç 2 ÷÷ in lowest terms is :-
(1) 2x2 + 7x + 3 (2) 2x2 + 7x – 3 è x + 4x - 12 ø
(3) 12x – 7x + 1
2 (4) 2x2 – 3
x+2 x+6
2. What must be added to 1 – x + x2 – 2x3 to produce (1) (2)
x -2 x-2
x3 ?
(1) x3 – x2 + x – 1 (2) –1 + x + x2 – 3x3 x+2 x-6
(3) 3x3 – x2 + x – 1 (4) None of these (3) (4)
x+6 x -2
3. What must be added to the sum of 4x2 + 3x – 7
9. The expression
and 3x2 + 6x + 5 to get 1 ?
(1) 7x2 + 9x – 3 (2) 3 – 9x – 7x2 (x - 1)(x - 2)(x2 - 9x + 14)
simplifies to :-
(3) 7x2 + 9x – 2 (4) None of these (x - 7)(x2 - 3x + 2)
4. What should be subtracted from 6x3 – 2x2 + 9x +
(1) (x – 1) (2) (x – 2)
2 so as to get 10x3 – x2 – 7x + 10 ?
(1) –4x3 – x2 + 16x – 8 1
(3) (x – 7) (4)
(2) 4x3 + x2 – 16x + 8 (x - 7)
(3) 16x3 – 3x2 + 2x + 12 10. The simplified form of the rational expression
(4) None of these
æ x2 öæ x - y ö
æ x +1 2ö çç 2 - 1÷ ç + 2 ÷ is
- ÷ expressed as a rational expression is 2 ÷ y
5. ç 2 èx -y øè ø
è x -1 x ø

x y
(x + 2) x2 - 2 (1) (2)
(1) – (2) (x + y) (x + y)
x(x - 1) x(x2 - 1)
y x
1 2(x + 1) (3) (4)
(3) (4) (x - y) (x - y)
x(x + 1) (x 3 - 1)
6. The rational expression which should be subtracted (x2 - y2 ) (xy + y2 )
11. The simplified form of 2 2
´
(x + 2xy + y ) (x 2 - xy)
æ x2 + 2 ö æ x2 + 6x - 1 ö
from çç x - 1 ÷÷ to get çç 2
÷÷ is :- is :-
è ø è x -1 ø
y x x y
x2 + x - 3 x2 – x - 6 (1) (2) (3) (4)
(1) (2) x y x+y x-y
x +1 x +1
1+ x 1 2a + 1
x2 + x - 6 x+3 12. If a = then + 2 is equal to :-
(3) (4) 2- x' a +1 a -1
x -1 x -1
7. The value of (1 + x)(2 + x) (1 - x)(2 - x)
(1) (2)
(2x - 1) (x - 2)
æ 1 öæ 1 öæ 1 öæ 1 ö
ç 1 + x + 1 ÷ ç 1 + x + 2 ÷ ç 1 + x + 3 ÷ ç 1 + x + 4 ÷ is
è øè øè øè ø
(1 + x)(2 - x) (1 - x)(2 - x)
(3) (4)
1 2x - 1 2x + 1
1
(1) 1+ (2)
x+5 x+5
2T 1 - T2
13. If x = 2 and y = , then (x2 + y2) is :-
x +1 x+5 (1 + T ) 1 + T2
(3) (4)
x+5 x +1
(1) 0 (2) 1 (3) T2 (4) T4
 æ x2 - 5x + 6 x2 - 5x + 4 ö æ x2 - 7x + 12 x2 - 13x + 42 x2 + 7x + 10 ö
çç 2 ´ 2 ÷÷ in simplified form is 19. çç 2 ´ ´ 2 ÷
14. x2 - x - 6 x - 10x + 24 ÷ø
è x - 9x + 20 x - 3x + 2 ø è x - 2x - 35
in simplified form is :-
x -2 x -3
(1) (2) x -1 x-6 x-7
x-3 x-5 (1) (2) (3) (4) 1
x-3 x+7 x + 12
x -2 x-5
(3) (4) 1 - x 4 1 + x2 1
x-5 x -2 20. The value of ¸ ´ is :
1–x x x(1 + x)
15. Which of the following statements are correct ?
1. Every polynomial is a rational expression. 1
(1) (2) 1 + x (3) 1 – x2 (4) 1
2. Every rational expression is a polynomial x
3. Degree of (x5 – 7x2 + 3) is 5. æx ö
Of these statement the correct ones are : ç y -1 ÷
(1) 1 & 2 (2) 2 & 3 21. The value of ç ÷ is :
ç1 - x ÷
(3) 1 & 3 (4) 1, 2 & 3 ç y ÷ø
è
16. Which of the following statements is correct ?
(1) The sum of two rational expressions is a rational x
(1) 0 (2) 1 (3) –1 (4)
expression. y
(2) The product of two rational expressions is not
always a rational expression. (x + y)2 - (x - y)2
22. is equal to :
(3) The difference of two rational expressions is not x 2 y - xy 2
always a rational expression.
1 1 2 4
(4) The division of a rational expression by a non- (1) (2) (3) (4)
xy x-y x-y x-y
zero rational expression need not be rational
expression. 23. The value of

a b 1 1 æ x-3 2x - 1 2x + 5 ö
ç 2 + 2 – 2 ÷ is :
17. If x = and y = , then + is equal to è x - x - 6 2x + 5x - 3 x + 5x + 6 ø
a+b a-b x y
(1) 1 (2) 0
ab ab
(1) (2) æ x -3ö
a 2 + b2 a2 - b2 (3) – 1 (4) ç ÷
è x -2ø
a 2 + b2 a2 - b2 24. The value of
(3) (4)
ab ab
é x 2 - (y - z)2 y2 – (x - z)2 z2 - (x – y)2
ê 2 2
+ + is :
æ 2x - 8 8x + 32 ö ë (x + z) - y (x + y)2 - z2 (y + z)2 - x 2
18. çç 2 ´ ÷ on simplification gives :
è (x - 4) (x2 + 4) ÷ø (1) 0 (2) 1 (3) – 1 (4) None

æ x3 - 27 ö
4 2 25. The simplified form of ç 2 ÷ is :
(1) (2) è x + 3x + 9 ø
x2 + 4 x-2

2 1 x -3 1
2 2 (1) (x – 3) (2) (3) (4)
(3) (4) (x - 3) x+3 x+3
x+2 x2 - 4

ANSWER KEY
Que. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
A ns. 2 3 2 1 1 1 4 1 2 3 1 3 2 2
Que. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
A ns. 1 3 1 4 4 3 4 2 2 1