NYS COMMON CORE MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM Lesson 26 M1

ALGEBRA II

Lesson 26: Solving Rational Equations

Student Outcomes
 Students solve rational equations, monitoring for the creation of extraneous solutions.

Lesson Notes
In the preceding lessons, students learned to add, subtract, multiply, and divide rational expressions so that in this lesson
we can solve equations involving rational expressions (A-REI.A.2). The skills developed in this lesson will be required to
solve equations of the form ( ) for a rational function and constant in Lesson 27 and later in Module 3 (F-
BF.B.4a).
There is more than one approach to solving a rational equation, and we explore two such methods in this section. The
first method is to multiply both sides by the common denominator to clear fractions. The second method is to find
equivalent forms of all expressions with a common denominator, set the numerators equal to each other, and solve the
resulting equation. Either approach requires that we keep an eye out for extraneous solutions; in other words, values
that appear to be a solution to the equation but cause division by zero and are, thus, not valid. Throughout our work
with rational expressions, students will be analyzing the structure of the expressions in order to decide on their next
algebraic steps (MP.7). Encourage students to check their answers by substituting their solutions back into each side of
the equation separately.

Classwork
Exercises 1–2 (8 minutes)
Allow students to solve this any way that they can and then discuss their answers. Focus Scaffolding:
on adding the fractions on the left and equating numerators or multiplying both sides by a
Struggling students may
common multiple. Indicate a practical technique of finding a common denominator.
benefit from first solving the
These first two exercises highlight MP.7, as the students must recognize the given
equation .
expressions to be of the form or ; by expressing the equations in the simplified
More advanced students may
form , they realize that we must have . try to solve

Exercises 1–2

Solve the following equations for , and give evidence that your solutions are correct.

1.

Combining the expressions on the left, we have , so ; therefore, . Then, .

Or, using another approach:

( ) ( ), so ; then, .

The solution to this equation is . To verify, we see that when , we have , so is

a valid solution.

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 NYS COMMON CORE MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM Lesson 26 M1
ALGEBRA II

2.

Since the expressions already have a common denominator, we see that , so we need to solve

. It then follows that the numerators are equal, so . Solving for gives . To verify, we
( )
see that when , we have ; thus, is a valid solution.

Remind students that two rational expressions with the same denominator are equal if the numerators are equal.

Discussion (2 minutes)
Now that we know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide rational expressions, we are going to use some of those
basic operations to solve equations involving rational expressions. An equation involving rational expressions is called a
rational equation. Keeping the previous exercise in mind, we will look at two different approaches to solving rational
equations.

Example 1 (6 minutes)
Ask students to try to solve this challenge problem on their own. Have them discuss and explain their methods in groups
MP.1 or with neighbors. The teacher should circulate and lead a discussion of both methods once students have had a chance
to try solving on their own.

Example 1

Solve the following equation: .

Equating Numerators Method: Obtain expressions on both sides with the same denominator and equate numerators.

Thus, , and ; therefore, is the solution to our original equation.

Clearing Fractions Method: Multiply both sides by a common multiple of the denominators to clear the fractions, and
then solve the resulting equation.

( ) ( )

We can see, once again, that the solution is .

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 NYS COMMON CORE MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM Lesson 26 M1
ALGEBRA II

Discussion (3 minutes)
Ask students to discuss both methods used in the previous example. Which method do they prefer, and why? Does one
method seem to be more efficient than the other? Have a few groups report their opinions to the class. At no time
should students be required to use a particular method; just be sure they understand both approaches, and allow them
to use whichever method seems more natural.

Exercise 3 (6 minutes)
Remind students that when we say a “solution” to an equation, we are talking about a value of the variable, usually ,
that will result in a true number sentence. In Lesson 22, students learned that there are some values of the variable that
are not allowed in order to avoid division by zero. Before students start working on the following exercise, ask them to
identify the values of that must be excluded. Wait for students to respond that we must have and before
having them work with a partner on the following exercise.

Exercises 3–7

3. Solve the following equation:

Method 1: Convert both expressions to equivalent expressions with a common denominator. The common
denominator is ( ), so we use the identity property of multiplication to multiply the left side by and the

right side by . This does not change the value of the expression on either side of the equation.
MP.7
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

( ) ( )
Since the denominators are equal, we can see that the numerators must be equal; thus, . Solving for
gives a solution of . At the outset of this example, we noted that cannot take on the value of or , but there
is nothing preventing from taking on the value . Thus, we have found a solution. We can check our work.

Substituting into gives us , and substituting into gives us . Thus,

( ⁄ ) ( ⁄ )

when , we have ; therefore, is indeed a solution.

Method 2: Multiply both sides of the equation by the common denominator ( ), and solve the resulting
equation.

( )( ) ( )( )
( )

From this point, we follow the same steps as we did in Method 1, and we get the same solution: .

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 NYS COMMON CORE MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM Lesson 26 M1
ALGEBRA II

Exercise 4 (6 minutes)
Have students continue to work with partners to solve the following equation. Walk around the room and observe
student progress; if necessary, offer the following hints and reminders:
 Reminder: Ask students to identify excluded values of . Suggest that they factor the denominator .
They should discover that we must specify and .
 Hint 1: Ask students to identify a common denominator of the three expressions in the equation. They should
respond with ( )( ), or equivalently, .
 Hint 2: What do we need to do with this common denominator? They should determine that they need to find
equivalent rational expressions for each of the terms with denominator ( )( )

4. Solve the following equation for :

First, we notice that we must have and . Then, we apply Method 1:

Scaffolding:
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) Let students know that the
( )( )
word extraneous has meaning
( )( ) ( )( ) ( )( )
outside of the mathematics
classroom; ask them to guess
( )( ) ( )( ) its definition, and then provide
the actual definition.
Since the denominators are equal, we know that the numerators are equal; thus, we have
, which means that . Thus, the only solution to this equation is . However, Extraneous: Irrelevant or
is not allowed to be because if , then is not defined. This means that the
unrelated to the subject
being dealt with.
original equation, , has no solution.
Students may benefit from
choral repetition, as well as a
Introduce the term extraneous solution. An invalid solution that may arise when we visual representation of this
manipulate a rational expression is called an extraneous solution. An extraneous solution word.
is a value that satisfies a transformed equation but does not satisfy the original equation.

Exercises 5–7 (8 minutes)

Give students a few minutes to discuss extraneous solutions with a partner. When do they occur, and how do you know
when you have one? Extraneous solutions occur when one of the solutions found does not make a true number
sentence when substituted into the original equation. The only way to know you have one is to note the values of the
variable that will cause a part of the equation to be undefined. In this lesson, we are concerned with division by zero; in
later lessons, we exclude values of the variable that would cause the square root of a negative number. Make sure that
all students have an understanding of extraneous solutions before proceeding. Then, have them work in pairs on the
following exercises.

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 NYS COMMON CORE MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM Lesson 26 M1
ALGEBRA II

5. Solve the following equation. Remember to check for extraneous solutions.

First, note that we must have .

Equating numerators: Then, we have , and the solution is .

Clearing fractions: ( ) ( ) Then, we have , and the solution is .

The solution is valid since the only excluded value is .

6. Solve the following equation. Remember to check for extraneous solutions.

First, note that we must have and .

( ) ( )
Equating numerators:
( )( ) ( )( ) ( )( )
Matching numerators, we have , which leads to ; therefore, .

Clearing fractions: ( )( )( ) ( )( )( )

We have ( ) ( ) , which leads to ; therefore, .

The solution is valid since the only excluded values are and .

7. Solve the following equation. Remember to check for extraneous solutions.

First, note that we must have and .

Equating numerators:

( )( ) ( )( ) ( )( )

( )( )
The solutions are and .

Clearing fractions:

( )( )( ) ( )( )( )
( )( )
( ) ( )

( )( )
The solutions are and .
Because is not allowed to be in order to avoid division by zero, the solution is extraneous; thus, is the only
solution to the given rational equation.

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 NYS COMMON CORE MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM Lesson 26 M1
ALGEBRA II

Closing (2 minutes)
Ask students to summarize the important parts of the lesson in writing, to a partner, or as a class. Use this as an
opportunity to informally assess understanding of the lesson. In particular, ask students to explain how we identify
extraneous solutions and why they arise when solving rational equations.

Lesson Summary
In this lesson, we applied what we have learned in the past two lessons about addition, subtraction, multiplication,
and division of rational expressions to solve rational equations. An extraneous solution is a solution to a
transformed equation that is not a solution to the original equation. For rational functions, extraneous solutions
come from the excluded values of the variable.

Rational equations can be solved one of two ways:

1. Write each side of the equation as an equivalent rational expression with the same denominator and
equate the numerators. Solve the resulting polynomial equation, and check for extraneous solutions.

2. Multiply both sides of the equation by an expression that is the common denominator of all terms in the
equation. Solve the resulting polynomial equation, and check for extraneous solutions.

Exit Ticket (4 minutes)

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 NYS COMMON CORE MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM Lesson 26 M1
ALGEBRA II

Name Date

Lesson 26: Solving Rational Equations

Exit Ticket

Find all solutions to the following equation. If there are any extraneous solutions, identify them and explain why they
are extraneous.

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 NYS COMMON CORE MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM Lesson 26 M1
ALGEBRA II

Exit Ticket Sample Solutions

Find all solutions to the following equation. If there are any extraneous solutions, identify them and explain why they are
extraneous.

First, note that we must have and .

( ) ( )
Using the equating numerators method:
( )( ) ( )( ) ( )( )

Matching numerators, we have , which leads to ; therefore, .

However, since the excluded values are and , the solution is an extraneous solution, and there is no solution to
.

Problem Set Sample Solutions

1. Solve the following equations and check for extraneous solutions.

a. b. c.

All real numbers except No solution

d. e. f.

No solution

g. h. i.

j. k. l.

m. n. o.
( )

p.

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 NYS COMMON CORE MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM Lesson 26 M1
ALGEBRA II

2. Create and solve a rational equation that has as an extraneous solution.

One such equation is .

3. Create and solve a rational equation that has as an extraneous solution.

One such equation is .

EXTENSION:

4. Two lengths and , where , are in golden ratio if the ratio of is to is

the same as is to . Symbolically, this is expressed as . We denote this
common ratio by the Greek letter phi (pronounced “fee”) with symbol , so that if
and are in common ratio, then . By setting , we find that
and is the positive number that satisfies the equation . Solve this
equation to find the numerical value for .

We can apply either method from the previous lesson to solve this equation.

Applying the quadratic formula, we have two solutions:

√ √
or

√ √
Since is a positive number, and , we have .

5. Remember that if we use to represent an integer, then the next integer can be represented by .

a. Does there exist a pair of consecutive integers whose reciprocals sum to ? Explain how you know.

Yes, and because .

b. Does there exist a pair of consecutive integers whose reciprocals sum to ? Explain how you know.

If represents the first integer, then represents the next integer. Suppose . Then,

( ) ( )
( ) ( )

√ √
The solutions to this quadratic equation are and , so there are no integers that solve this

equation. Thus, there are no pairs of consecutive integers whose reciprocals sum to .

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 NYS COMMON CORE MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM Lesson 26 M1
ALGEBRA II

c. Does there exist a pair of consecutive even integers whose reciprocals sum to ? Explain how you know.

If represents the first integer, then represents the next even integer. Suppose . Then,

( ) ( )
( ) ( )

The solutions to this quadratic equation are and ; therefore, the only even integer that solves the

equation is . Then, and are consecutive even integers whose reciprocals sum to .

d. Does there exist a pair of consecutive even integers whose reciprocals sum to ? Explain how you know.

If represents the first integer, then represents the next even integer. Suppose . Then,

( ) ( )
( ) ( )

√ √
The solutions to this quadratic equation are and , so there are no integers that solve this

equation. Thus, there are no pairs of consecutive even integers whose reciprocals sum to .

Lesson 26: Solving Rational Equations

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