The fraction consists of the numerator
x3−x1, which we can directly simplify somewhat to give
x3−x1=x3−1=x2, and the denominator
1x−3. If we are to rewrite the fraction as an expression with a single fraction sign, we need
to augment the multiply the top and bottom of the whole fraction by
xx−3
and then eliminate
x
and
x−3: