Check out some similar questions!

GetCrunk555 · Oct 23, 2007, 07:02 PM

Could you help me with this eqatution all the way through because I keep getting the wrong answer the answer is suppose to be (-3,1/2)

the equation is

4x+6y=-9
2x-10y=-1

ebaines · Oct 24, 2007, 06:35 AM

First off, you have an error in what you wrote - I think the second equation is supposed to be: 2x+10y = -1. Is that right?

The trick to solving simultaneous equations like this is to see if you can multiply one equation or the other by a factor that makes the coefficient of one of the variables the same as the coefficient for that variable in the other equation. For example, if you multiply the second equation by 2, it becomes:

4x+20y = -2.

Now just subtract this from the first equation:

(4x+6y= -9) - (4x+20y = -2) which yields 0x-14y = -7.

Thus y = 1/2.

Now substitute this value for y into either one of the original equations, and you can solve for x.

As a last step, always double-check your answer. Plug the values for x and y that you got into the original equations and see if they work.