Concept

Rewriting Terms Not in Fraction Form to Add or Subtract Rational Expressions

When one of the terms in a rational expression addition or subtraction problem is a whole number or a polynomial not written in fraction form, the first step is to rewrite it as a fraction with a denominator of 11. For example, the whole number 33 can be rewritten as 31\frac{3}{1}. This converts the problem into an operation between two rational expressions, after which the standard procedure—finding the Least Common Denominator (LCD), rewriting the fractions, combining the numerators, and simplifying—can be applied.

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Updated 2026-06-25

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