Lecture 1

Fractional Equations
Denition 1.1. An equation is called a fractional equation if it contains frac-
tional expressions where the unknown variables are appeared in their denomina-
tors.
The basic approach for solving a fractional equation is to remove the denomi-
nator if possible. However, in many cases this cannot be done by simply multiply-
ing the equation by the least common multiple of the denominators, since it will
lead to an equation of a high degree. Therefore the following techniques are often
needed.
1.
Use partial fraction techniques.
2.
Use techniques of telescopic sum.
3.
Use substitutions of variables or expressions.
Sometimes, it is advisable to manipulate the expressions before the substitu-
tion is discovered and applied.
Examples
Example 1. Solve equation
x C7
x C8

x C8
x C9

x C5
x C6
C
x C6
x C7
D 0.
Solution The given equation can be simplied to
_
1
1
x C8
_

_
1
1
x C9
_

_
1
1
x C6
_
C
_
1
1
x C7
_
D 0;
1
2 Lecture 1 Fractional Equations
so
1
x C8

1
x C9
D
1
x C6

1
x C7
;
1
x
2
C17x C72
D
1
x
2
C13x C42
;
x
2
C17x C72 D x
2
C13x C42; ) x D
15
2
:
Example 2. Solve the following equation
1
x
2
C2x
C
1
x
2
C6x C8
C
1
x
2
C10x C24
D
1
5

1
x
2
C14x C48
:
Solution By moving the term
1
x
2
C14x C48
to left hand side, it follows
that
1
x
2
C2x
C
1
x
2
C6x C8
C
1
x
2
C10x C24
C
1
x
2
C14x C48
D
1
5
;
1
x.x C2/
C
1
.x C2/.x C4/
C
1
.x C4/.x C6/
C
1
.x C6/.x C8/
D
1
5
;
1
2
__
1
x

1
x C2
_
C
_
1
x C2

1
x C4
_
C C
_
1
x C6

1
x C8
__
D
1
5
;
1
x

1
x C8
D
2
5
; so x
2
C8x 20 D 0;
then .x 2/.x C10/ D 0, namely x
1
D 2 and x
2
D 10.
Example 3. (CHINA/2005) Solve equation
jx 3j jx C1j
2jx C1j
D 1.
Solution Splitting the left hand side to two terms, then
jx 3j
2jx C1j

1
2
D 1;

x 3
x C1

D 3;
x 3
x C1
D 3 or
x 3
x C1
D 3;
x 3 D 3x C3 )x D 3 and x 3 D 3x 3 )x D 0:
Thus, x D 3 or x D 0.
Substitutions of variables or expressions play important role in solving frac-
tional equations, as shown in the following examples.
Lecture Notes on Mathematical Olympiad 3
Example 4. Solve equation
2x
2
C1
x C2
C
2x C4
2x
2
C1
D 3.
Solution Let y D
2x
2
C1
x C2
, then the given equation becomes y C
2
y
D 3.
y C
2
y
D 3 )y
2
3y C2 D 0 ).y 2/.y 1/ D 0:
When y D 1, then 2x
2
x 1 D 0, so x
1
D 1; x
2
D
1
2
.
When y D 2, then 2x
2
2x 3 D 0, so x
3
D
1
2
.1
p
7/; x
4
D
1
2
.1 C
p
7/.
Example 5. (SSSMO(J)/2006) Suppose that the two roots of the equation
1
x
2
10x 29
C
1
x
2
10x 45

2
x
2
10x 69
D 0
are and . Find the value of C.
Solution Let y D x
2
10x 45, the given equation then becomes
1
y C16
C
1
y
D
2
y 24
;
y C8
y
2
C16y
D
1
y 24
;
y
2
16y 192 D y
2
C16y )y D 6;
x
2
10x 45 D 6 )x
2
10x 39 D 0:
Thus, by Vietes Theorem, C D 10.
Sometimes the manipulations on the given equations are needed for nding
the desired substitution, as shown in the following examples.
Example 6. (CHINA/2000) Solve the system for .x; y/:
xy
3x C2y
D
1
8
;
xy
2x C3y
D
1
7
:
Solution By taking reciprocals to two sides of each equation, it follows that
2
x
C
3
y
D 8;
3
x
C
2
y
D 7:
4 Lecture 1 Fractional Equations
Letting u D
1
x
; v D
1
y
, the system for .u; v/ is
2u C3v D 8;
3u C2v D 7:
By solving them, it is obtained that u D 1; v D 2. Then, returning to .x; y/,
x D 1 and y D
1
2
:
Example 7. Solve equation
4x
2
Cx C4
x
2
C1
C
x
2
C1
x
2
Cx C1
D
31
6
.
Solution Write the given equation in the form
4 C
x
x
2
C1
C1
x
x
2
Cx C1
D 5 C
1
6
;
then
1
x C
1
x

1
x C
1
x
C1
D
1
6
:
Let w D x C
1
x
, it follows that
1
w

1
w C1
D
1
6
;
w.w C1/ D 6 )w
2
Cw 6 D 0;
) .w 2/.w C3/ D 0; namely w D 2 or w D 3:
(i) w D 2 )x C
1
x
D 2, then .x 1/
2
D 0, so x
1
D x
2
D 1.
(ii) w D 3 )x C
1
x
D 3, then x
2
C3x C1 D 0, so
x
3
D
3
p
5
2
; x
4
D
3 C
p
5
2
:
Example 8. Solve equation
x
2
15
C
48
5x
2
D
2x
3

8
x
.
Solution When both sides are multiplied by 15, the given equation becomes
x
2
C
_
12
x
_
2
D 10
_
x
12
x
_
:
Lecture Notes on Mathematical Olympiad 5
Let y D x
12
x
, by completing square it follows that
y
2
10y C24 D 0;
.y 4/.y 6/ D 0; ) y D 4 or 6:
Then
y D 4 )x
12
x
D 4 ).x 6/.x C2/ D 0; i.e. x
1
D 6; x
2
D 2:
y D 6 )x
12
x
D 6 )x
2
6x 12 D 0; i.e. x
3
D 3
p
21; x
4
D 3 C
p
21:
Example 9. Solve equation 2x
2
3x C
2 3x
x
2
D 1.
Solution Since x 0, the given equation is equivalent to
2
_
x
2
C
1
x
2
_
3
_
x C
1
x
_
D 1:
Let y D x C
1
x
, then 2y
2
3y 4 D 1, i.e., .2y 5/.y C1/ D 0. Thus, y D
5
2
or 1.
(i) y D
5
2
)2x C
2
x
D 5 )2x
2
5x C2 D 0 ).2x 1/.x 2/ D 0
)x
1
D
1
2
; x
2
D 2.
(ii) y D 1 )x C
1
x
D 1 )x
2
Cx C1 D 0, no real solution.
Example 10. Solve equation x
2
C
_
x
x C1
_
2
D 3.
Solution By completing the square on the left hand side, it follows that
_
x
x
x C1
_
2
C
2x
2
x C1
D 3;
_
x
2
x C1
_
2
C2
x
2
x C1
3 D 0:
Let y D
x
2
x C1
, then y
2
C2y 3 D 0 ).y C3/.y 1/ D 0, so y D 3 or 1.
(i) y D 3 )
x
2
x C1
D 3 )x
2
C3x C3 D 0, no real solution.
6 Lecture 1 Fractional Equations
(ii) y D 1 )
x
2
x C1
D 1 ) x
2
x 1 D 0 ) x
1
D
1
p
5
2
; x
2
D
1 C
p
5
2
:
Testing Questions (A)
1: Solve the equation
x
3
C4x
2
C2x 8
x
2
C2x 3
D
2x
3
C5x
2
C4x
2x
2
Cx C1
.
2: Solve the equation
x C1
x C2
C
x C6
x C7
D
x C2
x C3
C
x C5
x C6
.
3: Solve the equation
1
.x 1/x
C
1
x.x C1/
C C
1
.x C9/.x C10/
D
11
12
.
4: Solve the equation
1
x
2
C11x 8
C
1
x
2
C2x 8
C
1
x
2
13x 8
D 0.
5: Solve the equation x
2
C
x
2
.x C1/
2
D
5
4
.
6: Solve the equation
3x
2
C4x 1
3x
2
4x 1
D
x
2
C4x C1
x
2
4x C1
.
7: Find all the real solutions .x; y; z/ of the following system
9x
2
1 C9x
2
D
3
2
y;
9y
2
1 C9y
2
D
3
2
z;
9z
2
1 C9z
2
D
3
2
x:
8: (RUSMO/1993) Find all positive solutions of the system of fractional equa-
Lecture Notes on Mathematical Olympiad 7
tions
x
1
C
1
x
2
D 4;
x
2
C
1
x
3
D 1;
x
3
C
1
x
4
D 4;
x
4
C
1
x
5
D 1;
:
:
:
x
99
C
1
x
100
D 4;
x
100
C
1
x
1
D 1:
9: Solve the equation in x:
a Cx
b Cx
C
b Cx
a Cx
D
5
2
.
10: Solve the equation in x:
a Cb
b Cx
C
a Cc
x Cc
D
2.a Cb Cc/
x Cb Cc
(where aCb; aC
c; b Cc; a Cb Cc are all not zero).
11: Given that the equation
x
x C1
C
x C1
x
D
4x Ca
x.x C1/
has only one real root,
nd the value of real number a.
Testing Questions (B)
1: Solve equation
x
2
x C1
x
2
C2
C
x C1
x
2
x C1
D 1.
2: Solve equation
x
3
C7x
2
C24x C30
x
2
C5x C13
D
2x
3
C11x
2
C36x C45
2x
2
C7x C20
.
3: (RUSMO/2005) It is known that there is such a number s such that if real
numbers a; b; c; d are all neither 0 nor 1, satisfying a Cb Cc Cd D s and
1
a
C
1
b
C
1
c
C
1
d
D s, then
1
1 a
C
1
1 b
C
1
1 c
C
1
1 d
D s. Find s.
4: (VIETNAM/2007) Solve the system of equations
1
12
y C3x
D
2
p
x
; and 1 C
12
y C3x
D
6
p
y
:
8 Lecture 1 Fractional Equations
5: (BELARUS/2005) Find all triples .x; y; z/ with x; y; z 2 .0; 1/ satisfying
_
x C
1
2x
1
__
y C
1
2y
1
__
z C
1
2z
1
_
D
_
1
xy
z
__
1
yz
x
_
_
1
zx
y
_
:
6: (NORTH-EUROPEAN/2006) Given that x; y; z are real numbers which are
not all equal, satisfying
x C
1
y
D y C
1
z
D z C
1
x
D k;
where k is a real number. Find all possible values of k.
7: (GREECE/TST/2009) Find all real solutions .x; y; z/ of equation
.x C2/
2
y Cz 2
C
.y C4/
2
z Cx 4
C
.z C6/
2
x Cy 6
D 36;
giving x; y; z > 3.
8: (BULGARIA/2004) Given the system of equations
_
_
_
x
2
Cy
2
D a
2
C2;
1
x
C
1
y
D a:
.a 2 R/:
(a) Solve the system when a D 0;
(b) Find range of a such that the system has exactly two solutions.
9: (CZECH-POLISH-SLOVAK/2004) Solve the system of equations
1
xy
D
x
z
C1;
1
yz
D
y
x
C1;
1
zx
D
z
y
C1;
where x; y; z are real numbers.