Expert: Richard J. Raridon - 6/24/2009

Question
Hello,

I am stuck on how to find the sum of:

(2y over y sqaured + 4y + 4) + (3 over y squared + 6y +8)

Answer
2y/y^2 +4y +4 +3/y^2 +6y +8
simply combine terms to get 3/y^2 +12y +12.
However, what you really mean is
2y/(y^2+4y+4) +3/(y^2+6y+8)
y^2+4y+4 = (y+2)^2 and y^2+6y+8 = (y+2)(y+4)
so the LCD is (y+2)^2(y+4)
therefore, you have [2y(y+4)+3(y+2)]/[(y+2)^2(y+4)] =
(2y^2+11y+6)/[(y+2)^2(y+4)]