Basic Math Examples

$\frac{\frac{a}{a + 1} + \frac{a}{a - 1}}{\frac{a}{a^{2} - 1} - \frac{1}{a + 1}}$

Step 1

Multiply the numerator and denominator of the fraction by $(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1)$ .

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Step 1.1

Multiply $\frac{\frac{a}{a + 1} + \frac{a}{a - 1}}{\frac{a}{a^{2} - 1} - \frac{1}{a + 1}}$ by $\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1)}{(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1)}$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1)}{(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1)} \cdot \frac{\frac{a}{a + 1} + \frac{a}{a - 1}}{\frac{a}{a^{2} - 1} - \frac{1}{a + 1}}$

Step 1.2

Combine.

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) (\frac{a}{a + 1} + \frac{a}{a - 1})}{(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) (\frac{a}{a^{2} - 1} - \frac{1}{a + 1})}$

Step 2

Apply the distributive property.

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \frac{a}{a + 1} + (a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \frac{a}{a - 1}}{(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \frac{a}{a^{2} - 1} + (a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) (- \frac{1}{a + 1})}$

Step 3

Simplify by cancelling.

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Step 3.1

Cancel the common factor of $a + 1$ .

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Step 3.1.1

Factor $a + 1$ out of $(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1)$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) ((a - 1) (a^{2} - 1)) \frac{a}{a + 1} + (a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \frac{a}{a - 1}}{(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \frac{a}{a^{2} - 1} + (a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) (- \frac{1}{a + 1})}$

Step 3.1.2

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{(a + 1) ((a - 1) (a^{2} - 1)) \frac{a}{a + 1} + (a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \frac{a}{a - 1}}{(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \frac{a}{a^{2} - 1} + (a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) (- \frac{1}{a + 1})}$

Step 3.1.3

Rewrite the expression.

$\frac{(a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) a + (a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \frac{a}{a - 1}}{(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \frac{a}{a^{2} - 1} + (a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) (- \frac{1}{a + 1})}$

Step 3.2

Cancel the common factor of $a - 1$ .

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Step 3.2.1

Factor $a - 1$ out of $(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1)$ .

$\frac{(a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) a + (a - 1) ((a + 1) (a^{2} - 1)) \frac{a}{a - 1}}{(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \frac{a}{a^{2} - 1} + (a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) (- \frac{1}{a + 1})}$

Step 3.2.2

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{(a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) a + (a - 1) ((a + 1) (a^{2} - 1)) \frac{a}{a - 1}}{(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \frac{a}{a^{2} - 1} + (a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) (- \frac{1}{a + 1})}$

Step 3.2.3

Rewrite the expression.

$\frac{(a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) a + (a + 1) (a^{2} - 1) a}{(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \frac{a}{a^{2} - 1} + (a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) (- \frac{1}{a + 1})}$

Step 3.3

Cancel the common factor of $a^{2} - 1$ .

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Step 3.3.1

Factor $a^{2} - 1$ out of $(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1)$ .

$\frac{(a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) a + (a + 1) (a^{2} - 1) a}{(a^{2} - 1) ((a + 1) (a - 1)) \frac{a}{a^{2} - 1} + (a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) (- \frac{1}{a + 1})}$

Step 3.3.2

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{(a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) a + (a + 1) (a^{2} - 1) a}{(a^{2} - 1) ((a + 1) (a - 1)) \frac{a}{a^{2} - 1} + (a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) (- \frac{1}{a + 1})}$

Step 3.3.3

Rewrite the expression.

$\frac{(a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) a + (a + 1) (a^{2} - 1) a}{(a + 1) (a - 1) a + (a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) (- \frac{1}{a + 1})}$

Step 3.4

Cancel the common factor of $a + 1$ .

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Step 3.4.1

Move the leading negative in $- \frac{1}{a + 1}$ into the numerator.

$\frac{(a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) a + (a + 1) (a^{2} - 1) a}{(a + 1) (a - 1) a + (a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \frac{- 1}{a + 1}}$

Step 3.4.2

Factor $a + 1$ out of $(a + 1) (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1)$ .

$\frac{(a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) a + (a + 1) (a^{2} - 1) a}{(a + 1) (a - 1) a + (a + 1) ((a - 1) (a^{2} - 1)) \frac{- 1}{a + 1}}$

Step 3.4.3

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{(a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) a + (a + 1) (a^{2} - 1) a}{(a + 1) (a - 1) a + (a + 1) ((a - 1) (a^{2} - 1)) \frac{- 1}{a + 1}}$

Step 3.4.4

Rewrite the expression.

$\frac{(a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) a + (a + 1) (a^{2} - 1) a}{(a + 1) (a - 1) a + (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1}$

Step 4

Simplify the numerator.

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Step 4.1

Factor $(a^{2} - 1) a$ out of $(a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) a + (a + 1) (a^{2} - 1) a$ .

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Step 4.1.1

Factor $(a^{2} - 1) a$ out of $(a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) a$ .

$\frac{(a^{2} - 1) a (a - 1) + (a + 1) (a^{2} - 1) a}{(a + 1) (a - 1) a + (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1}$

Step 4.1.2

Factor $(a^{2} - 1) a$ out of $(a + 1) (a^{2} - 1) a$ .

$\frac{(a^{2} - 1) a (a - 1) + (a^{2} - 1) a (a + 1)}{(a + 1) (a - 1) a + (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1}$

Step 4.1.3

Factor $(a^{2} - 1) a$ out of $(a^{2} - 1) a (a - 1) + (a^{2} - 1) a (a + 1)$ .

$\frac{(a^{2} - 1) a (a - 1 + a + 1)}{(a + 1) (a - 1) a + (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1}$

Step 4.2

Rewrite $1$ as $1^{2}$ .

$\frac{(a^{2} - 1^{2}) a (a - 1 + a + 1)}{(a + 1) (a - 1) a + (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1}$

Step 4.3

Since both terms are perfect squares, factor using the difference of squares formula, $a^{2} - b^{2} = (a + b) (a - b)$ where $a = a$ and $b = 1$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) a (a - 1 + a + 1)}{(a + 1) (a - 1) a + (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1}$

Step 4.4

Add $a$ and $a$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) a (2 a - 1 + 1)}{(a + 1) (a - 1) a + (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1}$

Step 4.5

Add $- 1$ and $1$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) a (2 a + 0)}{(a + 1) (a - 1) a + (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1}$

Step 4.6

Add $2 a$ and $0$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) a \cdot 2 a}{(a + 1) (a - 1) a + (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1}$

Step 4.7

Combine exponents.

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Step 4.7.1

Raise $a$ to the power of $1$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) \cdot 2 (a^{1} a)}{(a + 1) (a - 1) a + (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1}$

Step 4.7.2

Raise $a$ to the power of $1$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) \cdot 2 (a^{1} a^{1})}{(a + 1) (a - 1) a + (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1}$

Step 4.7.3

Use the power rule $a^{m} a^{n} = a^{m + n}$ to combine exponents.

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) \cdot 2 a^{1 + 1}}{(a + 1) (a - 1) a + (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1}$

Step 4.7.4

Add $1$ and $1$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) \cdot 2 a^{2}}{(a + 1) (a - 1) a + (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1}$

Step 5

Simplify the denominator.

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Step 5.1

Factor $a - 1$ out of $(a + 1) (a - 1) a + (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1$ .

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Step 5.1.1

Factor $a - 1$ out of $(a + 1) (a - 1) a$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) \cdot 2 a^{2}}{(a - 1) ((a + 1) a) + (a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1}$

Step 5.1.2

Factor $a - 1$ out of $(a - 1) (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) \cdot 2 a^{2}}{(a - 1) ((a + 1) a) + (a - 1) ((a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1)}$

Step 5.1.3

Factor $a - 1$ out of $(a - 1) ((a + 1) a) + (a - 1) ((a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1)$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) \cdot 2 a^{2}}{(a - 1) ((a + 1) a + (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1)}$

Step 5.2

Apply the distributive property.

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) \cdot 2 a^{2}}{(a - 1) (a \cdot a + 1 a + (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1)}$

Step 5.3

Multiply $a$ by $a$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) \cdot 2 a^{2}}{(a - 1) (a^{2} + 1 a + (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1)}$

Step 5.4

Multiply $a$ by $1$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) \cdot 2 a^{2}}{(a - 1) (a^{2} + a + (a^{2} - 1) \cdot - 1)}$

Step 5.5

Apply the distributive property.

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) \cdot 2 a^{2}}{(a - 1) (a^{2} + a + a^{2} \cdot - 1 - 1 \cdot - 1)}$

Step 5.6

Move $- 1$ to the left of $a^{2}$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) \cdot 2 a^{2}}{(a - 1) (a^{2} + a - 1 \cdot a^{2} - 1 \cdot - 1)}$

Step 5.7

Multiply $- 1$ by $- 1$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) \cdot 2 a^{2}}{(a - 1) (a^{2} + a - 1 \cdot a^{2} + 1)}$

Step 5.8

Rewrite $- 1 a^{2}$ as $- a^{2}$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) \cdot 2 a^{2}}{(a - 1) (a^{2} + a - a^{2} + 1)}$

Step 5.9

Subtract $a^{2}$ from $a^{2}$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) \cdot 2 a^{2}}{(a - 1) (a + 0 + 1)}$

Step 5.10

Add $a$ and $0$ .

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) \cdot 2 a^{2}}{(a - 1) (a + 1)}$

Step 6

Reduce the expression by cancelling the common factors.

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Step 6.1

Cancel the common factor of $a + 1$ .

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Step 6.1.1

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{(a + 1) (a - 1) \cdot 2 a^{2}}{(a - 1) (a + 1)}$

Step 6.1.2

Rewrite the expression.

$\frac{(a - 1) \cdot 2 a^{2}}{a - 1}$

Step 6.2

Cancel the common factor of $a - 1$ .

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Step 6.2.1

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{(a - 1) \cdot 2 a^{2}}{a - 1}$

Step 6.2.2

Divide $2 a^{2}$ by $1$ .

$2 a^{2}$