Algebra Examples

$\frac{x}{x - 1} + \frac{2 x + 3}{x^{2} - 1}$

Step 1

Simplify the denominator.

Tap for more steps...

Step 1.1

Rewrite $1$ as $1^{2}$ .

$\frac{x}{x - 1} + \frac{2 x + 3}{x^{2} - 1^{2}}$

Step 1.2

Since both terms are perfect squares, factor using the difference of squares formula, $a^{2} - b^{2} = (a + b) (a - b)$ where $a = x$ and $b = 1$ .

$\frac{x}{x - 1} + \frac{2 x + 3}{(x + 1) (x - 1)}$

Step 2

To write $\frac{x}{x - 1}$ as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by $\frac{x + 1}{x + 1}$ .

$\frac{x}{x - 1} \cdot \frac{x + 1}{x + 1} + \frac{2 x + 3}{(x + 1) (x - 1)}$

Step 3

Write each expression with a common denominator of $(x - 1) (x + 1)$ , by multiplying each by an appropriate factor of $1$ .

Tap for more steps...

Step 3.1

Multiply $\frac{x}{x - 1}$ by $\frac{x + 1}{x + 1}$ .

$\frac{x (x + 1)}{(x - 1) (x + 1)} + \frac{2 x + 3}{(x + 1) (x - 1)}$

Step 3.2

Reorder the factors of $(x - 1) (x + 1)$ .

$\frac{x (x + 1)}{(x + 1) (x - 1)} + \frac{2 x + 3}{(x + 1) (x - 1)}$

Step 4

Combine the numerators over the common denominator.

$\frac{x (x + 1) + 2 x + 3}{(x + 1) (x - 1)}$

Step 5

Simplify the numerator.

Tap for more steps...

Step 5.1

Apply the distributive property.

$\frac{x \cdot x + x \cdot 1 + 2 x + 3}{(x + 1) (x - 1)}$

Step 5.2

Multiply $x$ by $x$ .

$\frac{x^{2} + x \cdot 1 + 2 x + 3}{(x + 1) (x - 1)}$

Step 5.3

Multiply $x$ by $1$ .

$\frac{x^{2} + x + 2 x + 3}{(x + 1) (x - 1)}$

Step 5.4

Add $x$ and $2 x$ .

$\frac{x^{2} + 3 x + 3}{(x + 1) (x - 1)}$