Lesson 1

Explore

Do you have a favourite board game? Perhaps you like classic games, such as Monopoly, The Game of Life, or Snakes and Ladders. Two important principles of game design are realism and simplicity. Part of what makes these games enjoyable is the fact that they simulate real-world contexts. In the examples provided here, one is a real-estate trading game, another takes you through the milestones of life, and the third simulates life with ladders rewarding good acts and snakes penalizing bad.

In this lesson you will study rational expressions. Just like a game designer creates games based on reality, you will learn how to write algebraic expressions that are equivalent to other expressions. As well, just as games are simplified versions of the real thing, you will learn to simplify rational expressions.

Recall that the definition of a rational number is a real number that can be expressed in the form where a and b are integers and b ≠ 0.

A rational expression has a similar definition. A rational expression can be expressed in the form of where a and b are polynomials and b ≠ 0.

Now that you have the definition of a rational expression, work through Identifying Rational Expressions to help you identify a rational expression.

Self-Check 1

Which of the following expressions are rational? Explain.

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 3x

Answers