Step 1 Note that and are not solutions since one or the other side of the inequality is undefined for these values of x. Split the remaining possibilities into cases: Case and are both negative or both positive. In either case so multiply both sides of the inequality by that to get:
Subtract from both sides to get:
Combining with the conditions of the case, that gives us the solution:
Case . and , so , so multiply both sides of the inequality by this and reverse the inequality to get:
Step 2 Subtract from both sides to get:
Combining with the conditions of the case, that gives us the solution:
Conclusion Putting the two cases together, the original inequality holds for all