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SCIPAD - BIG IDEAS - BOOK 2
FORCES AND MOTION
Using Formula Triangles
Being able to use and manipulate formulae is an important skill in science. Most of the formulae
you will use contain three variables. Two of these variables are used to calculate the third. For
example, if you have distance and time you can calculate speed. But what if you had speed and
distance and wanted to calculate time? This is where formula triangles can help.
1. Use the formula triangle to complete the table.
Distance Time Speed
100 m 10 s
1.5 m 5 s
10 m 4 s
0.5 m 1 s
10 s 10 m s-1
18 s 2 m s-1
2 s 12 m s-1
30 s 1 m s-1
10 m 10 m s-1
15 m 0.5 m s-1
100 m 10 m s-1
1 m 2 m s-1
V x
∆d
∆t v x
∆d
∆t
v x
∆d
∆t
To use the triangle, simply cover up the variable you are trying to calculate and the triangle will tell
you how to do it. For example:
The triangle tells you to
divide ‘∆d’ by ‘∆t’, so
To calculate v
∆d
∆t
v =
The triangle tells you to
divide ‘∆d’ by ‘v’, so
To calculate ∆t
∆d
v
∆t =
To calculate ∆d
The triangle tells you to
multiply ‘v’ by ‘t’, so
∆d = v x ∆t
v x
∆d
∆t
v
=
speed (m s-1)
∆d
=
change in distance (m)
∆t
=
change in time (s)
v =
∆d
∆t Create a formula triangle
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