Find the least common denominator of the rational expressions.

StartFraction 9 Over 10 x squared EndFraction
and StartFraction 7 Over 25 x Superscript 6 EndFraction

1 answer

To find the least common denominator (LCD) of the rational expressions \( \frac{9}{10x^2} \) and \( \frac{7}{25x^6} \), we need to determine the least common multiple (LCM) of the denominators.

  1. Identify the denominators:

    • The first denominator is \( 10x^2 \).
    • The second denominator is \( 25x^6 \).
  2. Factor each denominator:

    • The factors of \( 10 \) are \( 2 \times 5 \).

    • The factors of \( 25 \) are \( 5^2 \).

    • Therefore, we can write:

      • \( 10 = 2^1 \times 5^1 \)
      • \( 25 = 5^2 \)
    • Hence, we can express the denominators as:

      • \( 10x^2 = 2^1 \times 5^1 \times x^2 \)
      • \( 25x^6 = 5^2 \times x^6 \)
  3. Find the LCM of the numerical parts (coefficients):

    • The LCM of \( 10 \) and \( 25 \):
      • For the prime factor \( 2 \): The highest power is \( 2^1 \).
      • For the prime factor \( 5 \): The highest power is \( 5^2 \).
    • Thus, \( \text{LCM}(10, 25) = 2^1 \times 5^2 = 2 \times 25 = 50 \).
  4. Find the LCM of the variable parts:

    • For \( x^2 \) and \( x^6 \), the highest power is \( x^6 \).
  5. Combine the results to get the LCD:

    • The least common denominator is obtained by multiplying the LCM of the numerical parts and the LCM of the variable parts: \[ \text{LCD} = 50x^6 \]

Thus, the least common denominator of the rational expressions \( \frac{9}{10x^2} \) and \( \frac{7}{25x^6} \) is \(\boxed{50x^6}\).