How to multiply and divide rational expressions

Learn how to multiply/divide rational expressions. A rational expression is an expression in the form of a fraction, usually having variable(s) in the denominator. Recall that to multiply two fractions, we multiply the numerators together and multiply the denominators together and to divide by a fraction, we multiply by the reciprocal of the fraction. The same rules applies when we want to multiply/divide two rational function.

Given two rational expressions, to multiply the two expressions, we factor all the polynomials and then cancel out all the common factors between the numerator and the denominator. We then multiply the remaining numerators together and the remaining denominators together. The result is the simplified product of the two rational expressions.

Given two rational expressions where one is dividing the other, we first turn the divisor rational expression upside down and change the division sign to multiplication sign. We then follow the process of multiply two rational expressions.
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