1/x + 1/x^2

Question

add the fractions

Answer 1

Hey Christine,

Just like regular old fractions, we want to find a common denominator for these guys.

Let's multiply the 1/x by 1, but let's express 1 as x/x.

(x/x)(1/x) + 1/x²

Multiplying that out, we get

x/x² + 1/x²

Now that we've found the common denominator, we can add the numerators and put them over one denominator.

So, our answer would be:

(x+1)/x²

Answer 2

You can also cross multiply the fractions (which is unfortunately awkward to show in this answer box):

1/x + 1/x² = (x² + x)/(x*x²) then pull a factor of x from the numerator

x(x + 1)/x³ = (x + 1)/x²