22.2 Using and Rearranging Formulae
22.2 Using and Rearranging Formulae
Exercise
2 5 𝟓
i 𝑠𝑡 = 𝒙 =?
𝑥 𝒔𝒕
𝟐
𝟏
j 1=𝑢𝑣 𝑥 𝒙 =?
𝒖𝒗
RECAP: Definition – Formulae
Formulae Not Formulae
A formula is
mathematical 𝑣 =𝑢+𝑎𝑡 1
𝑥 +4 =31
2 3 𝑥
statement of equality, 𝐴=𝜋 𝑟
giving a relationship 𝑛
𝑦 =2 𝑥 − 4 𝑦 −2 𝑚
between variables. 2 𝑥−4 𝑦
𝑉 = 𝑙𝑤h
The subject of the formula is the single variable that everything else is
equal to
Changing the subject is a useful tool in mathematics that allows us to
manipulate formulae to make any desired variable the subject.
𝑧
− 𝑥 𝑧𝑧𝑧 𝑦 4 𝑧 − 𝑥= 𝑦
+𝑥↓ ↓+ 𝑥
𝑥 𝑧
− 𝑥 𝑧𝑧 𝑧 𝑦 𝑥 4 𝑧=𝑦 +𝑥
We want only for it
to be the subject
÷ 4↓ ↓÷4
𝑧 𝑦 𝑦+𝑥
4
𝑥
4 𝑧=
Remember: we can write this
4
as:
or
RECAP: Changing the Subject
Rearrange the following formula to Rearrange the following formula to
make the subject: make the subject:
𝑏+𝑎 𝑒𝑓𝑔
=𝑐 =h
𝑑 𝑑
𝑏−𝑑 𝑝=𝑞 − 𝑡
𝑎=
𝑐 +𝑡 ↓ ↓ +𝑡
×𝑐 ↓ ↓ ×𝑐 𝑝 +𝑡 =𝑞
𝑎𝑐 =𝑏 − 𝑑 −𝑝 ↓ ↓ −𝑝
÷ 𝑎↓ ↓÷𝑎
𝒃−𝒅
𝒕 =𝒒 − 𝒑
𝒄=
𝒂
Quickfire Questions
Make the subject of the following
formulae:
a 2 𝑥+ 𝑦= 𝑧 b
2
2 𝑥 +5 𝑤 = 𝑧
We can
𝟐
𝒛 −𝒚 subtract the 𝒛 −𝟓 𝒘
𝒙= ? term to both 𝒙= ?
𝟐 sides, like we 𝟐
have with
𝑏
c 𝑎=
𝑥
d 4 𝑥𝑧 =𝑤
𝒃 𝒘
𝒙=? 𝒙 =?
𝒂 𝟒𝒛
2
3 𝑝 𝑞𝑥 2
e =𝑠 f h =5 − 𝑗𝑥
𝑟
𝒓𝒔 𝟓 −𝒉
𝟐
𝒙= ? 𝟐 𝒙= ?
𝟑𝒑 𝒒 𝒋
What’s the Same? What’s Different?
Looking at the previous questions we
have tacked, what’s the same and
what’s different about this one?
3𝑥
𝑥𝑦 𝑥3𝑦𝑦𝑥𝑦 6 3 𝑥+ 3 𝑦 =6
bracket
−3 𝑦 ↓ ↓ −3 𝑦
−3 𝑦
3 𝑥3 𝑦 6 −3 𝑦 3 𝑥=6 − 3 𝑦
We want only for it
to be the subject
÷3↓ ↓÷3
𝑥 2−𝑦 𝒙=𝟐 − 𝒚
But there is another way to tackle this
The Big Idea: Changing the Subject with
Brackets
Make the subject of the following
formula:
3 ( 𝑥+ 𝑦 ) =6 We could
instead divide
by to get a
6
single
𝑥𝑦 𝑥𝑦 𝑥𝑦 3 ( 𝑥+ 𝑦 ) =6
We want only for it ÷3↓ ↓÷3
to be the subject
𝑥𝑦 2
𝑦
3 𝑥 + 𝑦 =2
− 𝑦↓ ↓−𝑦
−𝑦
𝑥𝑦 2−𝑦 𝒙=𝟐 − 𝒚
What’s the Same? What’s Different?
Make the subject of the following
formula:
3 ( 𝑥+ 2 )= 𝑦
We can still
expand out the
bracket first!
And we can
still divide
through by 3!
Hannah
But the
formula is
not equal to
a number This isn’t a
divisible by Basma
problem – we
3? just write it as
a fraction!
Viktor
The Big Idea: Changing the Subject with
Brackets
Make the subject of the following
formula:
3 ( 𝑥+ 2 )= 𝑦
We can collect the like
This is the same as
terms
𝑦
expanding the
3𝑥
6𝑥2
𝑥2 𝑥2 3 𝑥+ 6= 𝑦
bracket
−6 ↓ ↓ −6
−6
3 𝑥6 𝑦 −6 3 𝑥= 𝑦 − 6
We want only for it
to be the subject
÷3↓ ↓÷3
𝑥 𝑦
−2 𝒚 −𝟔
3 𝒙=
This is equivalent 𝟑
to
The Big Idea: Changing the Subject with
Brackets
Make the subject of the following
formula:
Here we
3 ( 𝑥+ 2 )= 𝑦 We could
have lots of divide by to
𝑦
get a single
𝑥2 𝑥2 𝑥2 3 ( 𝑥+ 2 )= 𝑦
We want only for it ÷3↓ ↓÷3
to be the subject
𝑦
𝑥2 𝑦
3
𝑥 + 2=
3
−2 ↓ ↓ −2
−2
𝑥2 𝑦
3 −2 𝒚
𝒙= − 𝟐
𝟑
Test Your Understanding drfrost.org/ 260a
s/
Make the subject of the following formulae using Hannah and Basma’s
methods:
a 2 ( 𝑥 −3 )= 𝑎 b 7=3 ( 𝑧 + 𝑥 )
7
𝑎 =? 𝑧 +𝑥
𝑥 −3? = 3
2 7
𝒂 − 𝑧=
? 𝑥
𝒙 = ? +𝟑 3
𝟐 𝟕
𝒙=? −𝒛
𝟑
or or
7=3? 𝑧 +3 𝑥
2 𝑥 − 6=
? 𝑎 7 − 3 𝑧 =3
? 𝑥
7
2 𝑥=𝑎
? +6 3
− 𝑧=
? 𝑥
𝒂 𝟕
𝒙=
? +𝟑 𝒙= ? − 𝒛
𝟐 𝟑
The Big Idea: Changing the Subject with
Brackets
Rearrange the following In these questions, the variable we
formula to make the subject: want to make the subject is trapped
inside the brackets which are being
𝑦 =𝑎( 𝑥 +𝑏) multiplied by
How could we release
from the brackets?
We have two ways to release from the brackets…
Divide through by : Expand the
brackets:
𝑦 =𝑎 ( 𝑥 +𝑏) Remember, we can
add, subtract, 𝑦 =𝑎 ( 𝑥 +𝑏)
multiply and divide
÷ 𝑎↓ ↓÷𝑎 whole terms as well 𝑦 =𝑎𝑥 +𝑎𝑏
𝑦 as variables
= 𝑥 +𝑏 − 𝑎𝑏 ↓ ↓ −𝑎𝑏
𝑎
−𝑏 ↓ ↓ −𝑏
𝑦 − 𝑎𝑏=𝑎𝑥
𝒚 ÷ 𝑎↓ ↓÷𝑎
− 𝒃= 𝒙 Although it doesn’t 𝒚 − 𝒂𝒃
𝒂 immediately look the =𝒙
𝒚 same, using our fraction 𝒂
𝒙=
𝒂
−𝒃 equivalence knowledge: 𝒚 − 𝒂𝒃
𝒙=
𝒂
Method Comparison
Make the subject of the following
formula:
2 𝑝=3 (𝑞 − 𝑟 )
There are terms as well as
single variables in the
formula
What is different about this question compared to
previous ones?
Will both Hannah and Basma’s methods to still
work here?
2 𝑝=3 (𝑞 −𝑟 ) 2 𝑝=3 (𝑞 −𝑟 )
÷3↓ ? ↓÷3 2 𝑝=3
? 𝑞−3𝑟
2𝑝 +3 𝑟 ↓ ? ↓+3 𝑟
? −𝑟
=𝑞
3 2 𝑝 +3 𝑟 =3
? 𝑞
+𝑟 ↓ ? ↓ +𝑟 ÷3↓ ?↓ ÷ 3
𝟐𝒑 𝟐 𝒑 +𝟑 𝒓
𝒒= ? +𝒓 𝒒= ?
𝟑 𝟑
Basma Hannah
Can you talk through each step of their
methods?
What if the original formula was instead ?
Fill in the gaps
Basma and Hannah have both correctly rearranged to make
the subject of:
2 =3 𝑝 (𝑞 − 𝑟 )
Remember, we can add,
subtract, multiply and divide
whole terms as well as
variables
2=3 𝑝 (𝑞 −𝑟 ) 2=3 𝑝 (𝑞 −𝑟 )
÷ 3?𝑝 ↓ ↓ ÷ 3?𝑝 2=3 𝑝𝑞−? 3 𝑝𝑟
2 +3 𝑝𝑟
? ↓ ↓+3 𝑝𝑟
?
? =𝑞?−𝑟
3𝑝 2+3?𝑝𝑟 =3?𝑝𝑞
+𝑟
? ↓ ↓ +𝑟
? ? 𝑝↓
÷3 ↓ ÷ 3? 𝑝
𝟐 𝟐+𝟑 𝒑𝒓
𝒒= +𝒓 𝒒=
𝟑 𝒑? ?
𝟑𝒑
Basma Hannah
Fill in the gaps in their answers.
𝒂 𝒆𝟐
𝒙= +𝒃 𝒙= −𝒅
𝟐 𝒄
? ?𝟐
𝒂 +𝟐 𝒃 𝒆 − 𝒄𝒅
𝒙=
or 𝒙=
or
𝟐 𝒄
c 𝑔 ( 𝑥 +2 𝑓 )=3 h d
2
3 𝑗=2 𝑘(𝑙 𝑚+ 𝑥)
𝟑𝒉 𝟑𝒋
𝒙= −𝟐 𝒇 𝒙=
𝟐
−𝒍 𝒎
𝒈 𝟐𝒌
? ?
𝟑 𝒉−𝟐 𝒇𝒈 𝟑 𝒋−𝟐𝒌𝒍 𝒎
𝟐
or𝒙= or𝒙=
𝒈 𝟐𝒌
Sometimes, Always,
Never?
What’s the same, and what How do you think this will
is different about this impact both methods
question compared to when rearranging this
previous ones? formula?
4 𝑏 ( 6 𝑎 +1 ) =3 𝑐
4 𝑏 ( 6 𝑎+1 ) =3 𝑐 4 𝑏 ( 6 𝑎+1 ) =3 𝑐
÷ 4𝑏↓ ↓÷4 𝑏 24 𝑎𝑏+4 𝑏=3 𝑐
3𝑐 −4𝑏↓ ↓−4𝑏
6 𝑎+1=
4𝑏 24 𝑎𝑏=3 𝑐 − 4 𝑏
−1 ↓ ↓ −1 ÷ 24 𝑏 ↓ ↓ ÷ 24 𝑏
3𝑐 𝟑𝒄−𝟒𝒃
6 𝑎= −1 𝒂=
4𝑏 𝟐𝟒 𝒃
÷6↓ ↓÷6
3𝑐 1
𝑎= − What itisdoesn’t
the
24 𝑏 6 Although
Basma 𝒄 𝟏 same? look
immediately Whatthe is
same,
𝒂= − using ourdifferent?
fraction equivalence Hannah
𝟖𝒃 𝟔 knowledge:
Which method
Each fraction
needs to be in do you prefer?
its simplest Why?
form
Method Comparison
Basma and Hannah have both correctly rearranged to make
the subject of:
𝑥𝑦 ( 𝑎𝑧 − 4 ) =7 𝑤
𝑥𝑦 ( 𝑎𝑧 − 4 ) =7 𝑤 𝑥𝑦 ( 𝑎𝑧 − 4 ) =7 𝑤
÷ 𝑥𝑦
? ↓ ↓ ÷ 𝑥𝑦
? 𝑎𝑥𝑦𝑧?− 4 𝑥𝑦=7𝑤
7𝑤 + 4 𝑥𝑦
? ↓ ↓+ 4 𝑥𝑦
?
𝑎𝑧 − 4= ?
𝑥𝑦 𝑎𝑥𝑦𝑧 =7 𝑤+4
? 𝑥𝑦
+?4 ↓ ↓ +?4 ÷ 𝑥𝑦𝑧
? ↓ ↓ ÷ 𝑥𝑦𝑧
?
7𝑤 𝟕 𝒘 + 𝟒 𝒙𝒚
𝑎𝑧 = ? + 4 𝒂= ?
𝑥𝑦 𝒙𝒚𝒛
÷?𝑧 ↓ ↓ ÷?𝑧
𝟕𝒘 𝟒
𝒂= ?+
𝒙𝒚𝒛 𝒛
Basma Hannah
5 𝑧 =3 𝑦 (6 − 𝑥)
Divide through by : Expand the
brackets:
5 𝑧 =3? 𝑦 (6 − 𝑥) 5 𝑧 =3? 𝑦 (6 − 𝑥)
÷3 𝑦 ↓ ? ↓÷3 𝑦 5 𝑧 =18
? 𝑦 − 3 𝑥𝑦
5𝑧 +3 𝑥𝑦 ↓ ? ↓+3 𝑥𝑦
=?6 − 𝑥
3𝑦 5 𝑧+3 𝑥𝑦 =18
? 𝑦
+𝑥↓ ? ↓+ 𝑥 −5 𝑧 ↓ ? ↓ −5 𝑧
5𝑧 3 𝑥𝑦=18
? 𝑦 −5 𝑧
+ 𝑥 =6
?
3𝑦 ÷3 𝑦 ↓ ? ↓÷3 𝑦
5𝑧 5𝑧 𝟏𝟖 𝒚 −𝟓 𝒛
− ↓ ↓? −
3𝑦 3𝑦 𝒙=?
𝟑𝒚
𝟓𝒛
𝒙 =𝟔? −
𝟑𝒚
Example Test Your
Understanding
Rearrange the following Rearrange the following
formula to make the subject: formula to make the subject:
3 𝑎=2 𝑏(𝑐 − 4 𝑑) 2
𝑝 𝑞 =𝑟 (3 𝑠 −𝑡𝑢)
Which method will be simplest Expand first like
here? Hannah!
Expanding the brackets is 2
simplest here as the subject has 𝑝 𝑞 =𝑟 (3 𝑠 −𝑡𝑢)
a coefficient 2
3 𝑎=2 𝑏(𝑐 − 4 𝑑) 𝑝 𝑞 =3
? 𝑟𝑠− 𝑟𝑡𝑢
+𝑟𝑡𝑢 ↓ ? ↓+𝑟𝑡𝑢
3 𝑎=2 𝑏𝑐− 8 𝑏𝑑 2
+8𝑏𝑑↓ ↓+8 𝑏𝑑 𝑝 𝑞 +𝑟𝑡𝑢=3
? 𝑟𝑠
2
−𝑝 𝑞 ↓ ? ↓ −𝑝 𝑞 2
3 𝑎+8 𝑏 𝑑=2 𝑏𝑐 2
−3 𝑎↓ ↓ −3 𝑎 𝑟𝑡𝑢=3
? 𝑟𝑠 −𝑝 𝑞
÷ 𝑟𝑢 ↓ ? ↓ ÷𝑟𝑢
8 𝑏 𝑑=2 𝑏𝑐− 3 𝑎 𝟐
÷8𝑏↓ ↓÷8𝑏 𝟑𝒓𝒔 − 𝒑 𝒒
𝒕=?
Any valid 𝟐 𝒃𝒄 −𝟑 𝒂 𝒓𝒖
rearrangeme 𝒅= Any valid
nt is also 𝟖𝒃 rearrangement is also
correct
Example Test Your
Understanding
Rearrange the following Rearrange the following
formula to make the subject: formula to make the subject:
3 𝑎=2 𝑏(𝑐 − 4 𝑑) 2
𝑝 𝑞 =𝑟 (3 𝑠 −𝑡𝑢)
3 𝑎=2 𝑏(𝑐 − 4 𝑑) 𝑝 𝑞 2=𝑟 (3 𝑠 −𝑡𝑢)
÷2𝑏↓ ↓ ÷ 2𝑏 We could also ÷ 𝑟 ↓ 2
↓ ÷𝑟
3𝑎 use Basma’s 𝑝𝑞
=𝑐 − 4 𝑑 method for
= 3 𝑠 − 𝑡𝑢
2𝑏 these
𝑟
+4 𝑑↓ ↓+ 4 𝑑 questions, and +𝑡𝑢
2
↓ ↓+𝑡𝑢
3𝑎 𝑝𝑞
divide first.
+ 4 𝑑=𝑐 +𝑡𝑢=3 𝑠
2𝑏 𝑟
2 2
3𝑎 𝑝𝑞 𝑝𝑞
3𝑎 ↓− − ↓ ↓−
− ↓ 2𝑏 𝑟 𝑟
2𝑏
3𝑎 𝑝 𝑞2
4 𝑑=𝑐 − 𝑡𝑢=3 𝑠 −
2𝑏 𝑟
÷ 4↓ ↓÷4 ÷𝑢↓ ↓ ÷𝑢
The solutions are 𝟐
𝒄 𝟑𝒂 valid 𝟑𝒔 𝒑 𝒒
𝒅= − rearrangements of 𝒕= −
𝟒 𝟖𝒃 those Hannah’s 𝒖 𝒓𝒖
method gave and
Show
Exercise all
solutio
ns
𝒓 𝟑𝒛
2 𝑞 ( 2 𝑝 + 𝑥 ) =𝑟 𝒙 = ?−𝟐 𝒑 6 4 𝑦 ( 3 − 𝑥 )=3 𝑧 𝒙 =𝟑 ?−
𝒒 𝟒𝒚
𝟐
5 𝟐𝒛 𝟔𝒕 −𝟕𝒔
3 2 𝑧=3 𝑦 (𝑥 −5)𝒙 = ? 𝟓 +𝟓 7
2
7 𝑠=2(3 𝑡 − 4 𝑥 ) 𝒙= ?
𝟑𝒚 𝟖
𝟓 𝒉−𝟔 𝒇
4 6 𝑓 ( 4 𝑥+1 ) =5 h𝒙= ? N2 𝑎− 𝑏=3 𝑐 (7 𝑑 −5 𝑥)
𝟐𝟒 𝒇
𝟐𝟏 𝒄𝒅 +𝒃 −𝟐 𝒂
𝒙= ?
𝟏𝟓 𝒄