Simplify the following rational expressions. 5x/x^2+5x+6 + x/x+3 = □ /x^2+5x+6

1 answer

To simplify the expression \( \frac{5x}{x^2 + 5x + 6} + \frac{x}{x + 3} \), we first need to factor the denominator of the first term.

The expression \( x^2 + 5x + 6 \) can be factored as:

\[ x^2 + 5x + 6 = (x + 2)(x + 3) \]

Now we can rewrite the expression:

\[ \frac{5x}{(x + 2)(x + 3)} + \frac{x}{x + 3} \]

Next, we need a common denominator to combine the fractions. The common denominator is \( (x + 2)(x + 3) \).

Now we rewrite the second term to have the common denominator:

\[ \frac{x}{x + 3} = \frac{x(x + 2)}{(x + 2)(x + 3)} \]

Now we can combine the two fractions:

\[ \frac{5x}{(x + 2)(x + 3)} + \frac{x(x + 2)}{(x + 2)(x + 3)} = \frac{5x + x(x + 2)}{(x + 2)(x + 3)} \]

Expanding the numerator:

\[ x(x + 2) = x^2 + 2x \]

So now the numerator becomes:

\[ 5x + x^2 + 2x = x^2 + 7x \]

Thus, we have:

\[ \frac{x^2 + 7x}{(x + 2)(x + 3)} \]

Now the expression is fully simplified.

The final result is:

\[ \frac{x^2 + 7x}{x^2 + 5x + 6} \]

To match your original formatting:

\[ \frac{□}{x^2 + 5x + 6} \quad \text{where } □ = x^2 + 7x \]

So the simplified form of the given rational expression is:

\[ \frac{x^2 + 7x}{x^2 + 5x + 6} \]