How do you solve a simultaneous equation?

Take 2 equations say equation 1: 2y+4x=26 and equation 2: y+3x= 18. What we need to do is make either the two x values or the 2 y values be equal so that we can subtract one of the equations from the other. for example: In this case we would multiply the 2nd equation by 2, so that we get 2y in both equations. This gives us equation 1: 2y+4x=26 and the adjusted equation 2: 2y+6x=36. What we do now is subtract equation 2 from equation one which gives us -2x=-10, we then make them both positive and divide 10 by 2 to obtain x which gives us x=5. We then plug x=5 into equation 1 or 2 to find the value of y. In this case 2y+4*5=26 results in y= 3. Finally we can check that we have the right values for x and y by substituting both values of x and y that we found into the equation 2 and checking we get the right result.

BS
Answered by Bryony S. Maths tutor

3406 Views

See similar Maths GCSE tutors

Related Maths GCSE answers

All answers ▸

Solve 2x + 7 = 13


expand (x-3)^2


Describe and explain the change in the shape of the graph y=x^2 and y=x^2 + 2.


A scalene triangle has 3 angles ABC in degrees, where A = (3x + 7), B = (4x + 5), C = (x + 8). Find the value of largest angle.


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2025

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences