Revision as of 07:57, 24 October 2008 by Longja (Talk)

Partial Fractions

This page is meant as a comprehensive review of partial fraction expansion. Partial fraction expansion allows us to fit functions to the known ones given by the known Fourier Transform pairs table.

First, the denominator must be of a higher degree than the numerator. If this is not the case, then perform long division to make it such. Note: for the remainder of this guide it is assumed that the denominator is of a higher degree than the numerator.


The Four Cases to take into Account

Case 1: Denominator is a product of distinct linear factors.

$ \frac{(Polynomial)}{(a_1x + b_1)(a_2x + b_2)...(a_kx + b_k)} = \frac{A_1}{(a_1x + b_1)}+\frac{A_2}{(a_2x + b_2)}+...+\frac{A_k}{(a_kx + b_k)} $

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