Question

solve for a d=vt+one half atsquared

Answer 1

help please!

Answer 2

Try to get everything on one side and a by itself on the other

Answer 3

what do you mean?

Answer 4

\[ d=vt+\frac{1}{2} at^2\] like that?

Answer 5

yes! now how do i solve for a?

Answer 6

step one
subtract \(vt\) from both sides
what do you get?

Answer 7

d-vt=1/2 atsquared

Answer 8

ok good, now we can do it in one more step or two
lets take two
multiply both sides by \(2\) what do you get

Answer 9

do i multiply everything by 2?

Answer 10

yes everything. that means you will get rid of the \(\frac{1}{2}\) on the right side of the equal sign

Answer 11

even the exponent?

Answer 12

no, not the exponent

Answer 13

i got 2d-2vt=1atsquared

Answer 14

right, but you don't need the "1"
you can write
\[2d-2vt=at^2\] now you want \(a\) by itself on the right. so divide both sides by \(t^2\) and you will be left with only \(a\) on the right

Answer 15

by "divide" i just mean put a long fraction bar under the expression on the left, and stick a \(t^2\) under it

Answer 16

okay but what do i do with the atsquared that is still on the right side of the equation do i do the same thing as i did with the left side?

Answer 17

when you divide both sides by \(t^2\) there will be no more \(t^2\) on the right, since \(\frac{at^2}{t^2}=a\)

Answer 18

okay so i have 2d2vt "divided" by tsquared is =a but why did i multiply the equation by 2? i don't understand that