Substitution and Evaluation - Tutorial

This is a tutorial on how to substitute numerical values for variables and evaluate expression.

Example 1


Evaluate $x^2-2x+1$ for $x=-2$

Solution


  1. Substitute $x$ included in the expression $x^2-2x+1$ by $(-2)$ as follows

    ${\color{red}{(-2)}}^2-2{\color{red}{(-2)}}+1$


  2. Simplify
    (YOU MAY USE A CALCULATOR)


    $=4-4+1$

    $=1$


Example 2


If $x=-1$ and $y = 2$, then $2xy+x^2-y^2 = $

Solution


  1. Substitute $x$ by $(-1)$ and $y$ by ${\color{blue}{(2)}}$ in the given expression $2xy+x^2-y^2$ as follows

    $2{\color{red}{(-1)}}{\color{blue}{(2)}}+{\color{red}{(-1)}}^2-{\color{blue}{(2)}}^2$


  2. Simplify
    (YOU MAY USE A CALCULATOR)


    $=-8+1-4$

    $=-11$



Example 3


If $x=1$ and $y = -2$, then $\dfrac{2x+3y}{4x+7y} = $

Solution


  1. Substitute $x$ by $(1)$ and $y$ by ${\color{blue}{(-2)}}$ in the given expression $\dfrac{2x+3y}{4x+7y}$ as follows

    $\dfrac{ 2{\color{red}{(1)}} + 3{\color{blue}{(-2)}} } { 4{\color{red}{(1)}} + 7{\color{blue}{(-2)}} }$


  2. Simplify
    (YOU MAY USE A CALCULATOR)


    $=\dfrac{2-6}{4-14}$

    $=\dfrac{-4}{-10}$

    $=\dfrac{2}{5}$