View Full Version : Transposition of formulae
emma51
Nov 10, 2009, 02:13 AM
please could someone help me answer this question??
y= 900a /
2 + a
Unknown008
Nov 10, 2009, 03:24 AM
Do you want to make 'a' the subject of formula?
emma51
Nov 10, 2009, 04:19 AM
Yes
Unknown008
Nov 10, 2009, 04:21 AM
Ok, I'll tell you to multiply each side by a+2 first and let's see what you get.
I'll be guiding you till the answer. :)
emma51
Nov 10, 2009, 05:35 AM
THIS IS WHAT I GOT
2y + ay +900a
2y + 900a - ay
2y= (900-y)a
a= 2y/900-y
= 2y/900-2y/y
= y/450-2
this is the answer I got
Perito
Nov 10, 2009, 05:59 AM
2y + ay = 900a
2y = 900a - ay
Watch your "=" signs.
2y= (900-y)a
a= \frac {2y}{(900-y)}
So far, so good. "a" is now the subject of the expression.
This is wrong. You can't simply put the numerator over each element of the denominator.
a \ne 2y/900-2y/y
a \ne y/450-2
You could do this:
a=\frac {\left( \frac {2y}{2} \right) }{\left( \frac {900-y}{2} \right)} = \frac {y}{\left( \frac {900}{2} - \frac {y}{2} \right)
a = \frac {y}{450-y/2}
but I'm not sure why you'd want to do that.
Unknown008
Nov 10, 2009, 06:51 AM
Yes, leave it as a = \frac{2y}{900-y} that's fine.
emma51
Nov 11, 2009, 02:12 AM
I did the equation like that as the question was:
A major chemical company researching crop yields tries out a new pesticide. The results indicate that, per hectare, for a kg of pesticide the extra yield y kg of a crop is given by the equation
the question was:
what is the formula which gives the amount, a kg, of pesticide needed to return and extra yield of y kg?
Unknown008
Nov 11, 2009, 03:04 AM
Yes, you leave it as said previously. :)
emma51
Nov 11, 2009, 04:53 AM
Thanks for your help :)
Unknown008
Nov 11, 2009, 06:14 AM
You're welcome! :)