It doesn't help a bit unless the equation you're trying to solve involves rational expressions or factoring (which is what you do to simplify rational expressions). Examples Knowing how to simplify rational expressions will not help you solve x + 3 = 5. It might help you solve x^2 + 4x + 4 = 0, because you would be tuned into finding factors of the quadratic. You would immediately recognize it as (x+2)^2 = 0, so you would know x = -2.
