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Answers to Algebra 1
Here we give the answers and some workings to the questions at the end of
the Algebra 1 worksheet. Answers are shown in blue

A) Starting simplifying
1) 2a + 3a = 5a

6) 2z 7z + 4y + 2y = 5z + 6y

2) 7a 3a = 4a

7) a2 3a2 + b 4b = 2a2 3b

3) 8z + 1z + 5a = 9z + 5a

8) a2 3a2 + a 4a = 2a2 3a

4) 5a + 10a 2z = 5a 2z

9) b2 3b2 + 4b b = 2b2 +3b

5) 2a a 8a = 11a

10) z2 3a2 + b 4a = z2 3a2 + b 4a

Notice that 10) is a bit of a trick question as it cannot be simplified

B) 4a2 + 2b 7a +3b + 8b 9 (a 2) + 18
1) List all the constants in the expression written above

4, 2, -7, 3, 8, -9, -2, 18

2) List all the variables in the expression written above

a, b, (note that a2 and b are expressions of the variables a and b)

3) Write the algebraic expression above in its simplest form
Step 1: multiplying out the bracket gives

4a2 + 2b 7a +3b + 8b 9a + 18+ 18

Step 2: re-ordering and simplifying

4a2 7a 9a + 2b + 3b + 8b + 18+ 18 = 4a2 16a + 13b + 36

www.mathsupport.wordpress.com Jackie Grant, Birkbeck College, 2012
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C) Substitution
Substitute values into the expressions below to calculate the total value of the
expression: a = 7, b = -2 , y = 3, z = 1. Note you should get the same answers
if you substitute the values into your answers for part A).
1) 2a + 3a = 2 (7) + 3(7) = 14 + 21 = 35
2) 7a 3a = 7(7) 3(7) = 49 21 = 28
3) 8z + 1z + 5a = 8(1) + 1(1) + 5(7) = 8 + 1 + 35 = 44
4) 5a + 10a 2z = 5(7)+ 10(7) 2(1) = 35 + 70 2 =33
5) 2a a 8a = 2(1) 1 8(1) = 2 1 8 = 11
6) 2z 7z + 4y + 2y = 2(1) 7(1) + 4(3) + 2(3) = 2 7 + 12 + 6 = 13
7) a2 3a2 + b 4b = (7)2 3(7)2 + (2) 4(2) = 49 3(49) 2 + 8 = 92
8) a2 3a2 + a 4a = (7)2 3(7)2 + 7 4(7)= 49 3(49) + 7 28 = 119
9) b2 3b2 + 4b b = (2)2 3(2)2 + 4(2) (2) = 4 3(4) 8 + 4 = 8
10) z2 3a2 + b 4a = (1)2 3(7)2 2 4(1) = 1 3(49) 2 4 = 152

D) Practicing simplifying the following expressions using the BIDMAS rules

1) 2 (z + 2) + 8 = 2 z + 4 + 8 = 2z +12
2) 3(z 2) 2(z + 3) =3z 6 2z 6 = z 12
3) 3(a 2) 2(b 3) = 3a 6 2b + 6 = 3a 2b
4) 2 (z2 2) + 2(z 4) = 2 z2 4 + 2z 8 = 2 z2 + 2z 16
5)
6) 2 (y2 2) + (2 y)2 + 4 = 2y2 4 + 4 y2 + 4 = 6y2
7)

8) 2 (z2 2) + (2z)2 + 4 = 2 z2 4 + 4z2 + 4 = 6z2

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9)
10)

11) 3a(b a2) a2(2 3a) = 3ab 3a3 2a2 + 3a3 =3ab 2a2
12)

E) Re-arrange each of these equations to make

the subject

(there are many ways to re-arrange these equations, these show one method)
1) b + 4 = a ; b = a 4
2) 4b = y ;
3) 4b = y + a ;
4) 3b y = 2a ;
5) 3b a = 5a ;
6) 3(b a) = 9a ;
7) 2 (b2 2) = 4 ; b2 2 = 2 ; b2 = 4 ; b = 2 (note: means plus or minus)
8) 4 = b +2y ; b + 2y = 4 ; b = 2y 4
9)
10)

; b = 4a
; 4 = 2ab ; 2ab = 4 ;

11)
12)

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F) Solve each of these equations to find

1) b + 2 = 8 ; b = 8 2 ; b = 6
2) 3b 2 = 7; 3b = 5 ;
3) 3(b 2) = 9 ; b 2 = 3 ; b = 5
4)
5) b + 2 = 8 ; 2 = 8 + b ; b + 8 = 2 ; b = 2 8 ; b = 6
6) b2 9 = 7 ; b2 = 7 + 9 ; b2 = 16 ; b = 4
7) 3(2 b) = 12 ;

8)
9) 3(b 2) + 2b = 9 ; 3b 6 + 2b = 9 ; 5b 6 = 9 ; 5b = 15 ; b = 3
10)
11) 3( b 2) = 9 ; 3b + 6 = 9 ; 3b = 15 ; b = 5
12)

www.mathsupport.wordpress.com Jackie Grant, Birkbeck College, 2012

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G) Some word questions

1) Using T to represent the price of a cup of tea and C to represent the price of
a cup of coffee write an equation to show that 2 cups of tea and 3 cups of
coffee cost 5.40

a) One cup of tea costs 1.20. Substitute this value into your equation and
simplify.

b) Solve this equation to find the price of one cup of coffee.

.
So the cost of a coffee is 1.00

2) The formula for calculating the time taken to cook a turkey is

where T is the time in minutes needed to cook a turkey, and p is the weight in
pounds.
a) How many minutes does it take to cook a 10 pound turkey

.
So the time to cook the turkey is 170 minutes.

b) Re-arrange the equation to make p the subject, and then calculate how
many pounds the turkey is if the cooking time is 4 hours.

www.mathsupport.wordpress.com Jackie Grant, Birkbeck College, 2012

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2) The total cost of borrowing money can be calculated using the formula

Where

is the number of years the money is borrowed for, is the interest rate

as a decimal,

is the amount of money borrowed and

is the total amount

that is repaid.
a) If the amount borrowed is 10,000, the interest rate is 5% (or 0.05 as a
decimal) and the number of years is 10. Calculate the total amount that is
repaid.

; note that we have used a calculator for this calculation.

So the total amount that is repaid is 16,289.

b) Re-arrange the equation to make the subject, and then calculate the
interest rate needed if the amount borrowed is 1,000, the number of years
is 3 and the total amount to be repaid is 10,000.

. This was a little tricky because of the indices (or powers) and
we have used

which means the same as

. If you want to review

indices visit the Number section at www.mathsupport.wordpress.com

Now substituting

and

we get

So the interest rate is 115%. Meaning that if you borrow 1,000 at an interest
rate of 115% over 3 years you end up repaying 10,000.

www.mathsupport.wordpress.com Jackie Grant, Birkbeck College, 2012

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