Solve the simultaneous equation: 3x + 2y = 4 , 4x + 5y = 17

the first thing to do when trying to solve simultaneous equations like this one is to look for a common coefficient. one of these doesn't exist in either equation therefore you have to multiply one or both of the equations to find a common coeficient. In this case you need to multiply the first equation by 5 and the second equation by 2 to find a common coefficient between the y terms. This leaves us with 15x + 10 y = 20, 8x + 10y = 34. now you must minus the second equation from the first to eliminate the y coefficients leaving us with 7x = -14. You can then see that x = -2. We can now substitute this back into either of the starting equations. 3*-2 + 2y = 4, which simplifies to 2y = 10 which shows us that y = 5. You then have the answer to the question x = -2, y = 5.