Introduction to Mathematics for Engineers Equations & Transposition of

Formulae
1
EQUATIONS AND TRANSPOSITION OF FORMULAE
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1. Introduction

Most of the Mathematics of Engineering/Science consists of relationships between various physical
quantities. These are expressed as Mathematical equations.

Examples
(i) Area of a circle, radius r
A r = t tt t
2
(ii) Coulombs Law. The force of attraction between two
charged particles is

F
k Q Q
r
=
1 2
2
where Q Q
1 2 ,
are the charges, r is their distance apart, k is
a physical constant.

(iii) Rate of heat transfer Q through a slab of heat conducting
material, thickness is

( )
Q
k T T
=

1 0

where T T
1 0
the is temperature difference, k is the thermal
conductivity.

Equations such as the above which represent frequently used results are known as formulae.
When using a formula connecting physical quantitites it is of course important to use a consistent
set of physical units, but in these notes we are solely interested in the Mathematical rules for
manipulating equations.

2. Equations

There is only one rule for changing the appearance of an equation.

Whatever you do to one side of the equation you must do
the same to the other side
Introduction to Mathematics for Engineers Equations & Transposition of
Formulae
2
In the following L and R represent whatever may appear on the left and right sides of an equation
respectively amd k represents any numerical or algebraic quantity.

If L R =
then (i) R L =
Example

If x y z + =
then z x y = +
The equation may be written either way.

Rather than write 2 x = we would write 2 x = . Rather than write
2
0 2 3 x x = + +
we would write
2
2 3 0 x x + + = .
(ii) L k R k + = +
Example
If y z x =
2
then y z z x z + = +
2
i.e. y x z = +
2
If you move a negative quantity from one side to
the other it becomes positive.

(iii) L k R k =
Example

If y z x + =
2
then y z z x z + =
2
i.e. y x z =
2
If you move a positive quantity from one side to
the other it becomes negative.

(iv) kL kR =
Examples
(a) If
y
z
x = +
2
1
Introduction to Mathematics for Engineers Equations & Transposition of
Formulae
3
then z
y
z
z x = + ( )
2
1
i.e. y z x = + ( )
2
1
(b) If
y
z
x + = 1
2
z
y
z
zx +
|
\

|
.
|
= 1
2
y z zx + =
2
This is sometimes called multiplying through by z.

(v)
L
k
R
k
=
Example

If z x y ( ) + = 4
then
z x y
z z
( ) +
=
4
x y
z
+ =
4
This is called dividing through by z.
(vii) ( ) ( ) L R
p p
= where p is a rational number

Examples

(i) If x y z + =
then
( )
x y z + =
2
2
x y z + =
2
(ii) If ( ) x y z + =
2
then ( ) x y z + =
2
i.e. x y z + =
The following set of examples are concerned with solving equations by making use of the above
rules.
Examples
Introduction to Mathematics for Engineers Equations & Transposition of
Formulae
4
(i) x = 2 4 (Add 2 to each side)
= + = x 4 2 6
(ii) x + = 2 4 (Subtract 2 from each side)
= = x 4 2 2
(iii)
x
2
1 4 + =
=
x
2
3 (Multiply through by 2)
= = x 2 3 6
(iv) 4 4 16 + = x
= 4 12 x (Divide through by 2)
= + x
12
4
3
(v)
4
1 5
x
=
=
4
6
x
(Invert both sides)
=
x
4
1
6
= = x
4
6
2
3
All the above are examples of LINEAR EQUATIONS . Any equation which can be written in
the form 0 ax b + = where a and b are real numbers is called a LINEAR EQUATION . The
value of x which satisfies the equation is called the root of the equation . Linear equations
have one root
b
x
a
= .
(vi) x
2
9 5 + = (Square both sides)
+ = x
2
9 25
= x
2
16 (Square root of both sides)
= x 4
(vii)
x
x 2
2
= (Multiply through by x)

x
2
2
2 = (Multiply through by 2)
x
2
4 =
x = 2
Introduction to Mathematics for Engineers Equations & Transposition of
Formulae
5
(ix)
3
4 x
x
+ =
2
3 4 x x + = (Multiply through by x )

2
4 3 0 x x + =
( 3)( 1) 0 x x =
3 1 x or x = =
(x)
2
3x x =
It is very tempting to divide through by x BUT DONT
2
3 0 x x = x is a common factor
(3 1) 0 x x =
1
0
3
x or x = =
If we had divided through by x the root at 0 x = would have been
missed .
Examples (vi)-(x) are examples of QUADRATIC EQUATIONS . These are covered in detail in
the notes FACTORISATION AND QUADRATIC EQUATIONS . As we saw they may have two
real roots , one repeated root , or no real roots .

(xi)
3 2
2 3 x x x =
It is very tempting to divide through by x BUT DONT
3 2
2 3 0 x x x = x is a common factor
2
( 2 3) 0 x x x = The expression in brackets factorises
( 3)( 1) 0 x x x + =
0 3 1 x or x or x = = =
Example (xi) is a CUBIC EQUATION . The general form is
3 2
0 ax bx cx d + + + = where
, , a b cand d real numbers . A cubic equation may have three real roots or only one real
root.There is a formula for solving cubic equations but it is very complicated and not much
used instead we tend to use computational methods which will be covered later in your
course.
Tutorial 1
In exercises 1-10 find the values of x satisfying the equations.

1. x + = 6 5 2. 2 7 9 x + =
3.
x x
5
1
10
+ = 4.
x
x 2
8
=
5.
x
x
+
+
=
1
2
2 6.
x
x
x
x
+
+
=
+

1
2
3
6
7.
1
2 3
3
5 x x
=
+
8. x
x x
x
+ =
+ +
1
3 2 6 ( )( )

9.
2
1 2 x + = 10.
1 1
2 2
( 1) ( 1) 0 x x

+ + + =
Introduction to Mathematics for Engineers Equations & Transposition of
Formulae
6
11.
3 3 1
2 2
x
x x
= + 12.
3
1 3 1 x x + = +
Click here to go the solutions for Tutorial 1. You can use the Explorer back button to return here.

3. Transposition of Formulae
An important application of the above rules above rules occurs in what is called transposition of
formulae.

We all know the formula for the area of a circle :
2
A r t =
Hence it is easy to calculate the area of a circle of radius 0.5m.

2 2
(0.5) 0.7854 A m t = =
But what if we are told that the area of a circle is 2
2
m and we need to know the radius ?
We need to rewrite the formula as
A
r
t
= . This is called transposing the formula
to make r the subject of the formula.
It is now quite easy to calculate the required radius :

2
0.7979 r m
t
= =
In the following examples the aim is to make the given variable the subject of the formula .

1.
1 2
2
( )
kQQ
F r
r
=
Rewrite as
2
1 2
r F kQQ = .Then
2 1 2
kQQ
r
F
= and finally
1 2
kQQ
r
F
= .
2.
1 0
1
( )
( )
k T T
Q T
l

=
First
1 0
( ) Ql k T T = then
1 0
Ql
T T
k
= and finally
1 0
Ql
T T
k
= +
3.
2 2
( ) a b c b = +
First
2 2 2
a b c = + then
2 2 2
b a c = and finally
2 2
b a c =
Let us look at this in more detail . In the given formula the following operations are carried out on
the variable b :-
(i) Square it
(ii) Add
2
c
(iii) Take square root

To makeb the subject we need to retrace these steps . So we need to carry out the inverse
operations in reverse order on the subject of the formula as given which is a .
Inverse of (iii) gives
2
a
Inverse of (ii) gives
2 2
a c
Inverse of (i) gives
2 2
a c
This technique is used in the next example .

Introduction to Mathematics for Engineers Equations & Transposition of
Formulae
7
3.
2 2
4 ( )
2
R r
S r R t
+
=
Operations on R :- (i) Square
(ii) Add
2
r
(iii) Divide by 2
(iv) Square root
(v) Multiply by 4 r t
Inverse operations in reverse order (to be performed on S ) .
(i) Divide by 4 r t Gives
4
S
r t
(ii) Square Gives
2
2 2
16
S
r t
(iii) Multiply by 2 Gives
2
2 2
8
S
r t
(iv) Subtract
2
r Gives
2
2
2 2
8
S
r
r t

(v) Square root Gives
2
2
2 2
8
S
r
r t

Therefore the transposed formula is
2
2
2 2
8
S
R r
r t
=
It needs to be emphasised that the method shown above is of limited application as shown
by the next example .

4.
1 2
1
1 2
( )
R R
R R
R R
=
+
Before applying the above we would have to rewrite the formula so that the required subject
variable only appeared once. In this case it is quicker and easier to proceed as follows:
First
1 2 1 2
RR RR R R + = then
2 1 2 1 1 2
( ) RR R R RR R R R = = finally
2
1
2
RR
R
R R
=

5. q A
gh
A
A
=
|
\

|
.
|
1
2
2
1
1
2
(
2
A )
This is a difficult problem . We will do it two ways .
First :-
Divide both sides by
1
A .
q
A
gh
A
A
1
2
2
1
1
2
=
|
\

|
.
|
Introduction to Mathematics for Engineers Equations & Transposition of
Formulae
8
Square both sides
q
A
gh
A
A
2
1
2 2
2
1
1
2
=
|
\

|
.
|
Invert both sides
A
q
gh
A
A
1
2
2
2
1
2
1
2
=
|
\

|
.
|
Multiply by 2gh
2
1
1
2
2
1
2
2
ghA
q
A
A
=
|
\

|
.
|

2
1
1
2
2
1
2
2
ghA
q
A
A
+ =
|
\

|
.
|
2
1
2 2
2
1
2
2
ghA q
q
A
A
+
=
|
\

|
.
|
Invert both sides
q
ghA q
A
A
2
1
2 2
2
2
1
2
2 +
=
q A
ghA q
A
2
1
2
1
2 2
2
2
2 +
=
And finally A
qA
ghA q
2
1
1
2 2
2
=
+
Second way :- Operations on
2
A :- (i) Invert .(Raise to power 1 ) , (ii)
1
A , (iii) Square,
(iv) 1 , (v) Invert , (vi) 2gh , (vii) Square root (viii)
1
A .
Inverse in reverse operating on q we obtain (i)
1
q
A
(ii)
2
2
1
q
A
(iii)
2
2
1
2
q
ghA
(iv)
2
1
2
2ghA
q
(v)
2
1
2
2
1
ghA
q
+ (vi)
2
1
2
2
1
ghA
q
+ (vii)
2
1
2
1
2
1
ghA
q
A
+
(viii)
1
2
1
2
2
1
A
ghA
q
+
Thus
1 1
2
2 2 2
1 1
2
2 2
1
A Aq
A
ghA ghA q
q
= =
+
+
as before .
Introduction to Mathematics for Engineers Equations & Transposition of
Formulae
9
Tutorial 2

1. Given that a sphere has volume 10m
3
find its radius.

2.

The diagram illustrates a vehicle P which starts from 0 with initial velocity
1
u ms

, and
constant acceleration
1
a ms

.
The various quantities are related by the formula

2
2( ) ut s
a
t

=
Given that
2 1
2 , 10 a ms u ms

= = find s, the distance travelled, after 6 seconds.

3. In each of the following transpose the given formula to make the symbol in brackets the
subject of the formula.

(a) R
R R
R R
=
+
1 2
1 2
( ) R
1
(b) d h r h = 2 2 ( ) ( ) r
(c) V
h R h
=
+ t tt t ( ) 3
6
2 2
( ) R
(d) v
IR
E IR
=

( ) I
(e) q A
gh
A
A
=
|
\

|
.
|

1
1
2
2
2
1
( ) A
1
Click here to go the solutions for Tutorial 2. You can use the Explorer back button to return here.

Click here to return to the List
Acceleration
a ms
-1
P
0 Time t secs
Distance 5m