Question

Under what circumstance would the sum of two fractions be easier to compute than the product of the same two fractions?

Answer 1

i guess when they have the same denominator

Answer 2

\[\frac ac+\frac bc=\frac{a+b}c\]

Answer 3

thanks, sound good to me.

Answer 4

but for the multiplication to be difficult you want a,b and c to be large numbers
so for example
\[ \frac{-12345}{78901234} + \frac{12345}{78901234} \]
is much easier than
\[ \frac{-12345}{78901234} \cdot \frac{12345}{78901234} \]

Answer 5

as compared to
\[ \frac{1}{2}+\frac{1}{2} \]
and
\[ \frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{1}{2} \]
Both seem easy.