Linear Equations

General Form
ax+by=c
Where a, b, and c are constants and a and b both cannot be zero.

Example: Given the equation 2 x + 4 y = 16. Determine the pair of values which satisfies the equation when x =
-2.
Example: (Production Possibilities) A company manufactures two different products. For the coming week 120
hours of labor are available for manufacturing the two products. Work hours can be allocated for production of
either product. In addition, since both products generate a good profit, management is interested in using all 120
hours during the week. Each unit produced of product A requires 3 hours of labor and each unit of product B
requires 2.5 hours.
(a) Define an equation which states that total work hours used for purchasing x units of product A and y
units of product B equal 120.
(b) How many units of product A can be purchased if 30 units of product B are produced?
(c) If management decides to purchase one product only, what is the maximum quantity which can be
produced of product A? The maximum of product B?
Example: There is an infinite number of pair of values (x,y) which satisfy any linear equation. In above
example, are there any members of the solution set which might not be realistic in terms of what the equation
represents?

Give examples of types of products where only integer values would be reasonable. Give an example of a
product for which non-integer values are reasonable.

Exercises
(Product Mix) A company manufactures two products A and B. Each unit of A requires 3 labor hours and each
unit of B requires 5 labor hours. Daily manufacturing capacity is 150 labor hours.
(a) If x units of product A and y units of product B are manufactured each day and all labor hours are to be
used, determine the linear equation that requires the use of 150 labor hours per day.
(b) How many units of A can be made each day if 25 units of B are manufactured each day?
(c) How many units of A can be made each week if 12 units of B are manufactured each day? (Assume a 5-
day work week)

(Personnel Hiring) A software consulting firm has received a large contract to develop a new airline
reservation system for major airline. In order to fulfill the contract, new hiring of programmer analysts, senior
programmer analysts, and software engineers will be required. Each programmer analyst position will cost
$40,000 in salary and benefits. Each senior programmer analyst position will cost $50,000 and each software
engineer position $60,000. The airline has budgeted $1.2 million per year for the new hirings. If xj equals the
number of persons hired for job category j:
(a) Determine the equation which ensures that total new hires will exactly consume the budget.
(b) If it were desired to spend the entire budget on one type of position, how many persons of each type
could be hired?
 (c) If exactly 10 programmer analysts are needed for the contract what is the maximum number of senior
programmer analysts that could be hired? Maximum number of software engineers?

(Nutrition Planning) A dietitian is considering three food types to be served at a meal. She is particularly
concerned with the amount of one vitamin provided at this meal. One ounce of food 1 provides 8 milligrams of
the vitamin; an ounce of food 2 provides 24 milligrams; and an ounce of food 3 provides 16 milligrams, the
minimum daily requirement (MDR) for the vitamin is 120 milligrams.
(a) If xj equals the number of ounces of food type j served at the meal, determine the equation which
ensures that the meal satisfies the MDR exactly.
(b) If only one of the three food types is to be included in the meal, how much would have to be served (in
each of the three possible cases) to satisfy the MDR?

(Emergency Airlift) The Red Cross wants to airlift supplies into a South American country which has
experienced an earthquake. Four types of supplies each of which would be shipped in containers are being
considered. One container of a particular item weighs 120, 300, 250, and 500 pounds, respectively, for the four
items. If the airplane to be used has a weight capacity of 60,000 pounds and xj equals the number of container
shipped of item j:
(a) Determine the equation which ensures that the plane will be loaded to its weight capacity.
(b) If it is decided to devote this plane to one supply item only, how many containers could be shipped of
each item?

(Airlift Revisited) In above exercise, each container of a supply item requires a specific volume of space.
Suppose containers of the four items require 30, 60, 50, and 80 cubic feet respectively. If the volume capacity of
the plane is 15,000 cubic feet:
(a) Determine the equation which ensures that the volume capacity of the plane is filled exactly.
(b) If it is decided to devote this plane to one supply item only, how many containers could be shipped of
each item if volume capacity is the only consideration?
(c) Using the information from above exercise, what is the maximum number of containers which could be
shipped of each item if both weight and volume are considered? Indicate in each case whether weight or
volume capacity is the constraining factor.

(Public transportation)New York city has received a federal grant of $100 million for improving public
transportation. The funds are to be used only for the purchase of new buses, the purchase of new subway cars, or
the repaving of city streets. Costs are estimated at $150,000 per bus, $180,000 per subway car, and $250,000 per
mile for repaving. City officials want to determine different ways of spending the grant money.
(a) Define the decision variables and write the equation which ensures the complete expenditure of the
federal grant.
(b) If it has been determined that 100 buses and 200 new subway cars will be purchased, how many miles
of city streets can be repaved?
(c) If officials wish to spend all of the grant money on one type of improvement, what are the different
possibilities?

(Political Campaign) A candidate for the position of governor of a Midwestern state has an advertising budget
of $1.5 million. The candidate’s advisor has identified four advertising options: newspaper advertisement, radio
commercials, television commercials, and billboard advertisements. The cost of these media options average
$1,500, $2,500, $10,00, and $7,500, respectively. If xj equals the number of units purchased of media option j:
(a) Write an equation which requires total advertising expenditures of $1.5 million.
(b) If it has been determined that 100 newspaper ads, 300 radio ads, and 50 billboard ads will be used, how
many television ads can they purchase?
(c) If 50 billboard ads are to be purchased, what is the maximum number of newspaper ads that can be
purchased? Maximum number of radio ads? TV ads?

Graphing Two variable Equations

1. Identify and plot the co-ordinates of any two points which lie on the line.
2. Connect the two points with a straight line.
3. Extend the line in both directions as far as necessary.
Best practice is to find X and Y-intercepts. And join them

Slope: a straight line is characterized by its slope. It is known as inclination of line. We move from left to right
and see whether it is rising or falling. It can be positive, negative, zero, or infinite.
Slope is the change in the value of y if x increases by 1 unit.

Exercises
Identify the x and y intercepts and plot the line.
1. 2 x – 3 y = -12
2. X – 2 y = -8
3. -x – 4 y = 10
4. 3 x + 8 y = 0
5. -5 x + 2 y = 0
6. -4 x = 24
7. -5 y = -17.5
8. -n x = t n > 0, t > 0
Compute the slope and interpret the meaning
1. (2,8) and (-2, -8)
2. (3,5) and (-1, 15)
3. (-2,3) and (1, -9)
4. (4,-3) and (10,-12)
5. (-2,8) and (3,8)
6. (-4,20) and (-4, 30)
7. (0,30) and (0,-15)
8. (a,b) and (-a,b)

Slope-Intercept form
y = m x + c, where m is slope of line and c is the y-intercept.

Salary Equation: y = 3x + 25 where

y = weekly salary in dollars
x = number of units sold during 1-week.
Exercises:
(Women in labor force) The number of women in the labor force is expected to increase in 1990s, but not as
dramatically as occurred during the 1970s. One forecasting consultant uses the linear equation n = 29.6 + 1.20 t
to predict the number of women between the ages of 35 and 44 who will be in the labor force. In this equation, n
equals the number of women (aged 35 to 44) in the labor force (measured in millions) and t equals time
measured in years since 1981 ( t = 0 corresponds to 1981). If n is plotted on the vertical axis:
(a) Graph the equation.
(b) Identify the slope and y-intercept (n-intercept here)
(c) Interpret the meaning of the slope and n-intercept in this application.
(d) Predict the number of women in this age group who will be in the labor force in 1995. In the year 2000.

The chamber of commerce for a summer resort is trying to determine how many tourists will be visiting each
season over the coming years. A marketing research firm has estimated that the number of tourists can be
predicted by the equation p = 275,000 + 7,500 t, where p = number of tourists per year and t = years (measured
from this current season). Thus t = 0 identifies the current season, t = 1 is the next season, etc. If p is plotted on
the vertical axis:
(a) Graph the equation.
(b) Identify the slope and y-intercept (p-intercept here).
(c) Interpret the meaning of the slope and p-intercept in this application.

(Think Metric) C = (9/5) F – (160/9) is an equation relating temperature in Celsius units to temperature on the
Fahrenheit scale. Let C = degrees Celsius and F = degrees Fahrenheit; assume the equation is graphed with C
measured on the vertical axis.
(a) Identify the slope and C intercept.
(b) Interpret the meaning of the slope and C intercept for purposes of converting from Fahrenheit to Celsius
temperatures.
(c) Solve the equation for F and rework parts a and b of F is plotted on the vertical axis.

A police department believes that the number of serious crimes which occure each month can be estimated by
the equation c = 1,200 – 12.5 p
Where c equals the number of serious crimes expected per month and p equals the number of officers assigned
to preventive patrol. If c is graphed on the vertical axis:
(a) Identify the slope and interpret its meaning.
(b) Identify the c intercept and interpret its meaning.
(c) Identify the p intercept and interpret its meaning.

The book value of a machine is expressed by the equation V = 60,000 – 7,500 t

Where V equals the book value in dollars and t equals the age of the machine expressed in years.
(a) Identify the t and V intercepts.
(b) Interpret the meaning of the intercepts.
(c) Interpret the meaning of the slope.
(d) Sketch the function.
(SAT Scores) One small college has observed a downward trend in the average SAT score of applicants to the
college. Analysis has resulted in the equation s = 620 – 4.5 t
Where s equals the average SAT score for a given year and t equals the time measured in years since 1985 (t =
0)
(a) Identify s and t intercepts.
(b) Interpret the meaning of the intercepts.
(c) Interpret the meaning of the slope.
(d) Sketch the equation.

(Product Mix) A company produces two products. Weekly labor availability equals 150 labor-hours. Each unit
of product 1 requires 3 labor-hours and each unit of product 2 requires 4.5 labor-hours. If management wishes to
use all labor hours, the equation 3x + 4.5 y = 150 is a statement of this requirement, where x equals the number
of units produced of product 1 and y equals the number of units produced of product 2. Rewrite the equation in
slope-intercept form and interpret the meaning of the slope and y-intercept. Solve for the x intercept and
interpret its meaning.

(Portfolio Management) A portfolio manager is concerned that two stocks generate an annual income of
$15,000 for a client. The two stocks earn annual dividends of $2.40 and $3.50 per share, respectively. If x equals
the number of shares of stock 1 and y equals the number of shares of stock 2, the equation 2.4 x + 3.5 y = 15,000
states that total annual dividend income from the two stocks should total $15,000. Rewrite the equation in slope-
intercept form and interpret the meaning of the slope and y intercept in this application. Solve for x intercept and
interpret its meaning.

Systems of Linear Equations

Determine the solution set for each of the following:
-2x1 + x2 +3x3 = 10
10x1 – 5x2 – 15x3 = 30
x1 + x2 -3x3 = 25

-x1 + 2x2 + x3 = -4
4x1 – 8x2 – 4x3 = 10