Rearranging formulasOne step
Name: Date:
Rearrange each formula to make the named letter the subject.
1E = mc²for m
2P = 4sfor s
3D = mVfor V
4W = Fdfor d
5V = lwhfor l
6C = 2πrfor r
7I = Prtfor P
8C = πdfor d
Rearranging formulas: one step worksheets
One step is where solving with letters gets accepted as ordinary. These free printable worksheets take real formulas such as P = 4s and E = mc² and ask for the letter you do not have, with a single operation to undo.
If they get stuck
Rearranging formulas: one step
The answer key prints on a separate page.
What's on this sheet
With only one step, the whole page is about the idea rather than the algebra. Solving P = 4s for s is the same division as solving 12 = 4s, and the answer simply has a letter in it. A student who is uneasy about an answer with no number in it needs a lot of these before anything longer is fair.
Why this sheet works
The trickiest ones have the wanted letter underneath. D = m/V for V takes a multiply and then a divide to a student who writes it out, and it is the one worth doing slowly. The two-step formulas, such as the perimeter of a rectangle, are on the main rearranging sheet.
How this one works
Solve E = mc² for m
E = mc²
= m
m =
- E = mc² is the mass and energy. To make m the subject, undo everything that is being done to it.
- Divide both sides by what multiplies it. E = mc² becomes E/(c²) = m.
- Write it with the letter you want on the left. E/(c²) = m becomes m = E/(c²).