Rearranging Equations – When the Formula has Two Terms that Contain the Subject we need to Isolate Reinforcement Questions

1.

Rearrange the equation below to make x the subject:

begin mathsize 14px style a left parenthesis x minus space 5 right parenthesis space equals space 3 left parenthesis 2 space minus space 7 x right parenthesis end style

First, we expand the brackets by multiplying the terms in the brackets by the term outside, yielding:

begin mathsize 14px style a x space minus space space 5 a space equals space 6 space minus space 21 x end style

Now we need to bring all of the x terms to the same side of the equation by adding 21x to both sides:

begin mathsize 14px style a x space plus space 21 x space minus space 5 a space equals space 6 end style

Next, move all of the non x terms to the other side of the equation by adding 5a to both sides:

begin mathsize 14px style a x space plus space 21 x space equals space 6 space plus space 5 a end style

Then we factorise the left-hand side of the equation by x:

begin mathsize 14px style x left parenthesis a space plus space 21 right parenthesis space equals space 6 space plus space 5 a end style

We then divide both sides of the equation by the bracketed items next to x:

begin mathsize 14px style x space equals space fraction numerator 6 space plus space 5 a over denominator a space plus space 21 end fraction end style

2.

Isolate m in this equation:

begin mathsize 14px style F space equals space fraction numerator m v space minus space m u over denominator t end fraction end style

First, we multiply both sides of the equation by t to get:

begin mathsize 14px style F t space equals space m v space minus space m u end style

Then factorise by m:

begin mathsize 14px style F t space equals space m left parenthesis v space minus space u right parenthesis end style

Next, we make m, the subject of the equation, by dividing both sides by v - u:

begin mathsize 14px style m space equals space fraction numerator F t over denominator v space minus space u end fraction end style

3.

Isolate b in the following equation:

begin mathsize 14px style a b space minus space c space equals space 3 b space plus space d end style

We would first bring all of the b terms to the same side by subtracting 3b from both sides:

begin mathsize 14px style a b space minus space 3 b space minus space c space equals space d end style

Then we move all non-b terms to the other side of the equation by adding c to both sides:

begin mathsize 14px style a b space minus space 3 b space equals space d space plus space c end style

Next, we factorise the left-hand side of the equation by b:

begin mathsize 14px style b left parenthesis a space minus space 3 right parenthesis space equals space d space plus space c end style

Finally, we divide both sides of the equation by the bracketed terms adjacent to b:

begin mathsize 14px style b space equals space fraction numerator d space plus space c over denominator a space minus space 3 end fraction end style

4.

Make x the subject in the following equation:

begin mathsize 14px style 2 left parenthesis x y space plus space z right parenthesis space equals space 5 left parenthesis x space minus space z right parenthesis end style

We start by expanding both brackets by multiplying the terms inside by the terms outside:

begin mathsize 14px style 2 x y space plus space 2 z space equals space 5 x space minus space 5 z end style

We need to make begin mathsize 14px style 5 x end style active in the equation by changing how it is written:

begin mathsize 14px style 2 x y space plus space 2 z space equals space minus 5 z space plus space space 5 x end style

Now we move all x terms to the left-hand side of the equation by subtracting begin mathsize 14px style 5 x end style from both sides:

begin mathsize 14px style 2 x y space minus space 5 x space plus space 2 z space equals negative 5 z end style

Then we move all non-x terms to the right-hand side of the equation by subtracting begin mathsize 14px style 2 z end style from both sides:

begin mathsize 14px style 2 x y space minus space 5 x space equals space minus 5 z space minus space 2 z end style

Now we factorise the left-hand side of the equation by x:

begin mathsize 14px style x left parenthesis 2 y space minus space 5 right parenthesis space equals space minus 5 z space minus space 2 z end style

And then we can simplify the right-hand side of the equation:

begin mathsize 14px style x left parenthesis 2 y space minus space 5 right parenthesis space equals space minus 7 z end style

Finally, we divide both sides of the equation by the bracketed items adjacent to the x term:

begin mathsize 14px style x space equals space fraction numerator negative 7 z over denominator 2 y space minus space 5 end fraction end style

5.

Rearrange this equation to make b the subject:

begin mathsize 14px style P space equals space fraction numerator a b space plus space c over denominator b space minus space d end fraction end style

First, let’s get rid of the fraction by multiplying both sides by the denominator:

begin mathsize 14px style P left parenthesis b space minus space d space right parenthesis space equals space a b space plus space c end style

Then, expand the brackets by multiplying by P:

begin mathsize 14px style P b space minus space P d space equals space a b space plus space c end style

Now we bring all of the b terms to the same side of the equation by subtracting ab from both sides:

begin mathsize 14px style P b space minus space a b space minus space P d space equals space c end style

Next, we factorise by b:

begin mathsize 14px style b left parenthesis P space minus space a right parenthesis space minus space P d space equals space c end style

Now we can move Pd across the equation by adding it to both sides:

begin mathsize 14px style b left parenthesis P space minus space a right parenthesis space equals space c space plus space P d end style

And finally, we can divide both sides of the equation by begin mathsize 14px style P space minus space a end style:

begin mathsize 14px style b space equals space fraction numerator c space plus space P d over denominator P space minus space a end fraction end style

In the next section, will we learn what to do when a term appears on both sides of the equation.

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