I need help with this problem:

Question

6/v-1=6/(v-3)

I tried working it out like this:

>>>6/v-1=6/(v-3)
>>>(6-v)/v= 6/(v-3)
I cross multiplied to get:
>>>3v+18-v^2= 6v
>>> -3v+18-v^2=0

^Here's where I became stuck. I would appreciate it if you would point out where I have gone wrong in this problem.

Answer 1

6/v-1=6/(v-3)
cross-multiply from here
6(v-3) = 6(v-1)
6v - 18 =6v - 6
-18 = -6
contradiction!

so your equation has no solution.

did you type it correctly?

Answer 2

The first step is wrong. How did you get (6-v)/v?

Answer 3

@Reiny: It is 6/v -1= 6/(v+3) I made a mistake there.

@bobpursley: From the 6/v-1 I made it one fraction

6/v -1/1 --> (6 -(1*v))/v

Answer 4

ok, multiply each term by v(v-3)

6(v-3) -v(v-3) = 6v
6v - 18 - v^2 + 3v = 6v
v^2 - 3v + 18 = 0

use the quadratic equation, but just looking at it, I can see that you will not get a real answer.
Your two roots will be complex numbers