3 Ways To Solve Literal Equations
For example, you might be told to solve the area of a triangle formula for h{\displaystyle h}. Or, you might know that you have the area and base of the triangle, so you need to solve for the height. So, you need to rearrange the formula and isolate the h{\displaystyle h} variable. Multiplication and division. Addition and subtraction. Squaring and taking a square root. For example, to solve the area of a triangle formula (A=12bh{\displaystyle A={\frac {1}{2}}bh}) for h{\displaystyle h}: Cancel the fraction by multiplying each side by 2:A×2=2×12bh{\displaystyle A\times 2=2\times {\frac {1}{2}}bh}2A=bh{\displaystyle 2A=bh} Isolate h{\displaystyle h} by dividing each side by b{\displaystyle b}:2Ab=bhb{\displaystyle {\frac {2A}{b}}={\frac {bh}{b}}}2Ab=h{\displaystyle {\frac {2A}{b}}=h} Rearrange the formula, if desired: h=2Ab{\displaystyle h={\frac {2A}{b}}}...