Certainly learning and practicing with formulas for area, volume, perimeter, and other math related topics is important.   But I also believe that it is important to show students formulas that relate to some of their interests like photography, baseball, volleyball, cars, and other activities.   So, I have compiled a list of formulas that teachers can use in their algebra classrooms to generate some interest.

1. Formula to determine your speed in miles per hour for a particular race that you ran:
     

2. Formulas for baseball:
     

3. Volleyball Formula:
     

4. Body Mass Index:
     

5. Total Area of your skin:
     
      Body surface area, simply abbreviated BSA, is a measure of the skin's total area.
      BSA is used by doctors, pharmacologists, and other clinicians to determine
      the proper dosage of medications.
      The formula returns the approximate body surface area in square meters.
      You must enter your weight in kilograms (kg) and height in centimeters (cm).
      To convert from pounds and inches, use 1 lb = .4536 kg, and 1 inch = 2.54 cm.

6. Formula to Estimate a person’s aerobic capacity based on a one mile walk:
     

7. Formula to determine the distance that lightning is from you:
     

8. Formula to find distance, given the rate and time:
     

9. Formula to determine the weight of a cube of ice in pounds:
     

10. Formula to find how long a storm will last:
     

11. Formula to find the Heat Index
     

12. Formula to determine the Wind Chill:
     

13. Formula to convert between Celsius and Fahrenheit degrees:
     

14. Formula for the camera’s f-stop:
     

15. Formula to determine the right size TV:
     

16. Formula to determine the amount of a tip:
     

17. Formula for the number of gallons in an aquarium:
     

18. Formula for Simple Interest:
     

19. Formulas for Compound Interest:
     

20. Formula for the Rule of 72:
     

21. Formula to determine the speed of a car:
     

22. Formula for Horsepower:
     

23. Formula for the Displacement of an engine:
     

24. Formula for total Stopping Distance of a car:
     

25. Formula to generate Pythagorean Triples:
     

26. Formula to calculate password entropy:
     

27. Formula to calculate NFL Passer Rating:
The NFL passer rating formula includes four variables: completion percentage, yards per attempt, touchdowns per attempt, and interceptions per attempt.

Each of those variables is scaled to a value between 0 and 2.375, with 1.0 being statistically average (based on league data between 1960–1970).

Passer rating in the NFL is on a scale from 0 to 158.3.

The four separate calculations can be expressed in the following equations:


where
ATT = Number of passing attempts
COMP = Number of completions
YDS = Passing yards
TD = Touchdown passes
INT = Interceptions

If the result of any calculation is greater than 2.375, it is set to 2.375.   If the result is a negative number, it is set to zero.

Then, the above calculations are used to complete the passer rating:





If you have additional formulas that you find interesting,
please send them to me and I will add them to the list.
Send ideas to: David Pleacher