How do you evaluate #\frac { 3q + 1} { 3q ^ { 2} + 11q - 4} - \frac { 5q + 4} { 2q ^ { 2} + 7q - 4}#?
1 Answer
You'll need to make the denominators equal by factoring and finding the least common multiple, then you can simplify.
Explanation:
Your main concern is to make the denominators equal, since you're not going to be able to add or subtract fractions with contrasting denominators.
To do this, the first step is going to be to factor them.
F
O
I
L
This checks out, so we're good here.
F
O
I
L
Everything checks out again.
Now we can rewrite the expression as
To make the denominators equal, we can multiply both sides of the first fraction by
From here, all that's left to do is to simplify.
Then we come to our final evaluation: