What do you find challenging about working with rational expressions?

Question

What do you find challenging about working with rational expressions? What strategies do you develop to overcome these challenges?

Answer 1

For my students, it is remembering not to cancel part of something that is added or subtracted, i.e. something that is not a factor; strategy is for me to tell them several times every day and show them why it doesn't work until they are sick of hearing me say it.

Answer 2

I think the worst part of rational expressions is addition and subtraction because you have to find common denominators that might be algebraic expressions instead of numbers.

Just remember to factor your denominators whenever possible. The common denominator must contain every factor that appears in the original denominators. If a factor appears twice in one denominator, it has to appear twice in the common denominator.

Once you know your common denominator, you multiply the numerators by whatever factor the original fraction doesn't have.

Then combine like terms, factor again if necessary, and cancel matching factors in the numerator and denominator to simplify.

Answer 3

1)challenge is to write doen as less as possible
2)trying.

why do you want to know tyis ?