1.

Simultaneous Linear Equations

A system of simultaneous linear equations is written:

a1x + b1y = c1
a2x + b2y = c2 2. Graphs of Linear Functions
Our aim in this chapter is to find values (x, y) which satisfy both equations. It is very important to know how to quickly sketch straight lines. When we use math
to model real-world problems, it is worthwhile to have a sense of how straight lines
First, we will test a solution to see what it means. In later sections, we will see how to "work" and what they look like.
find the solution.
We met this topic before in the Plane Analytical Geometry section. The following
Example: section serves as a reminder for you...
We are solving a chemistry problem and obtain the system:

-3x + y = 1
6x − 3y = -4 a. Slope-Intercept Form of a Straight Line: y = mx + c

We get the solution , y = 2. Is it correct? If the slope (also known as gradient) of a line is m, and the -intercept is c, then the
equation of the line is written:
Answer
y = mx + c
If satisfies both equations, then it is a solution of the system.
Example 1
By substitution:
The line y = 2x + 6 has slope m = 2 and y-intercept c = 6.

So is a solution.
 Joining the intercepts (2, 0) and (0, 3) gives:

Slope of a Line
b. Intercept Form of a Straight Line: ax + by = c
The slope (or gradient) of a straight line is given by:
Often a straight line is written in the form ax + by = c. One way we can sketch this is
by finding the x- and y-intercepts and then joining those intercepts.

Example 2

Sketch the line 3x + 2y = 6. We can also write the slope of the straight line passing through the points (x1, y1) and
(x2, y2) as:
Answer

The x-intercept (ie, when y = 0) is:

3x = 6; ie x = 2. Using this expression for slope, we can derive the following.

The y-intercept (ie, when x = 0) is:  

2y = 6; ie y = 3.
c. Point-slope Form of a Straight Line: y − y1 = m(x − x1)

If a line passes through the point (x1, y1) and has slope m, then the equation of the line
is given by:

y−y 1 = m(x − x1)

Example 3

Find the equation of the line with slope - 3, and which passes through (2, -4).

Answer
3. Graphical Solution of a System of
Here, m = -3, x1 = 2 and y1 = -4. So the equation is
Linear Equations
y − (-4) = -3(x − 2)
A 2 × 2 system of equations is a set of 2 equations in 2 unknowns which must be
y + 4 = -3x + 6 solved simultaneously (together) so that the solutions are true in both equations.

y = -3x + 2 We can solve such a system of equations graphically. That is, we draw the graph of
the 2 lines and see where the lines intersect. The intersection point gives us the
The graph is: solution.

Example 1

Solve graphically the set of equations

2x + 3y = 5

x - 3y = 7

Answer
We draw the 2 lines as follows. x + y = 7 has x-intercept 7 and has y-intercept 7.

The graph is as follows:

We observe that the point (4,-1) is on both lines on the graph. We say (4,-1) is the
solution for the set of simultaneous equations.
So the solution for the system (from the graph) is (3, 4).
This means the solutions are x = 4, y = -1.

Notice that these values are true in both the first and the second equation.
4. Algebraic Solutions of Linear Systems
Example 2
a. Solving Systems of Equations Using Substitution
Solve graphically the system:

2x − 3y = -6 This method involves subsituting y (or x if it is easier) from one equation into the
other equation. This simplifies the second equation and we can solve it easily.
x+y=7
Example 1
Answer
Solve the system
Once again, we graph the 2 lines and the intersection point gives the solution for the
simultaneous equations. x + y = 3 [1]

3x − 2y = 14 [2]
2x − 3y = -6 has x-intercept -3, and y-intercept 2.
using substitution.
7x = 21
Answer
So x = 3 and using line [1], y = 1.
From line [1], we get y = -x + 3. We substitute this for y in line [2]:
Check in line [2]: 3 − 2(1) = 1 [OK]
3x - 2(-x + 3) = 14
So our solution is (3, 1).
This gives us: 3x + 2x − 6 = 14

So x = 4 and using line [1] we get y = -1.

In a later chapter we will see how to solve systems of equations using determinants
Check in line [2]: 3(4) − 2(-1) = 14 [OK] (okay for paper-based solutions) and matrices (very powerful and the best way to do
it on computers).
So our solution (4, -1) is correct.

b. Solving Systems of Equations Using Elimination 5. Graphical Solution of non-Linear

Our aim here is to eliminate one of the variables. It doesn't matter which one - we
Systems
usually just do the easiest one.
A non-linear graph is a curve. This section assumes you already know the formulas
Example 2 for straight lines, circles, parabolas, ellipses and hyperbolas. You can refresh your
memory in the Plane Anlytic Geometry chapter.
Solve the system using elimination.
In this section, we see how to solve non-linear systems of equations (those involving
3x + y = 10 [1]
curved lines), using a graph. Our answer will be approximate, and we can improve
our answer by using a graphics calculator or a computer package.
x − 2y = 1 [2]
Example
Answer
Solve the system of equations graphically:
Row [1] × 2 gives us
3x − y = 4
6x + 2y = 20 [3]
y = 6 − 2x2
x − 2y = 1 [4]
Answer
If we add lines [3] and [4], we eliminate y.
The graph of the parabola and straight line are as follows:

We can see from the graph that there are 2 solutions, since there are 2 places where
the graphs intersect. They are:
We see that the intersection point (the graphical solution) is at approximately (1.5,
(a) At approximately (1.5, 1). Using LiveMath, we can zoom in and find the solution 2.5).
correct to as many decimal places as we like. A few zooms gives us (1.6085, 0.8255).
2. Solve graphically. Estimate your answer:
(b) At approximately (−3.2, −13). Using a computer graph, we can zoom in on this
intersection to get a better estimate of (-3.1085, -13.3255). y = 4x − x2

y = 2 cos x

Exercises Answer

1. Solve graphically. Estimate your answer.

y = x2

xy = 4

Answer

y = x2 is a parabola.

xy = 4 is a hyperbola.
We see that the solutions are approximately x2 + (x + 1)2 = 25
(0.5, 1.8) & (4.2, −0.9).
This gives:

6. Algebraic Solution of Systems of x2 + x2 + 2x + 1 = 25

Equations 2x2 + 2x − 24 = 0

x2 + x − 12 = 0

Solution by Substitution (x + 4)(x − 3) = 0

Similar to the linear case in the previous section, we can substitute one of the So x = -4 or x = 3.
expressions given into the other expression:
This gives our intersecting points to be: (-4, -3) and (3, 4).
 
Is it correct? The graph of the situation has:
Example 1

Solve the system of equations algebraically:

y=x+1

x2 + y2 = 25

Answer

We recognize that this is a straight line intersecting a circle. (See more on the circle.)

We may have:

 no intersection point
 1 intersection point
 2 intersection points

We can simply substitute the right hand side of the first equation into the second
equation: We can see from the graph that our solution is correct.
Solution by Addition or Subtraction (-3,-4) (3,-4) (0,5)

This method works by eliminating one of the variables from the equations. We then
The sketch shows:
find the value(s) of the remaining variable.

Example 2

Solve the system of equations by adding or subtracting

x2 + y = 5

x2 + y2 = 25

Answer

NOTE: This system represents a parabola intersecting a circle. We expect:

 no intersection point or
 1, 2, 3 or 4 intersection points

If we subtract the first line from the second, we have:

y2 - y = 25 - 5

y2 - y - 20 = 0

(y + 4)(y - 5) = 0 Exercises
So y = -4 or 5 1. Solve algebraically:

The corresponding x values are going to be: 6y − x = 6

x = +3 or -3, and x = 0 x2 + 3y2 = 36

So the solution set will be: Answer

We first solve the first line for y (so we can substitute):

Substituting in the second row gives:

2. Solve algebraically:

3x2 − y2 = 4

x2 + 4y2 = 10

Answer

We multiply the first row by 4:

Solving, using the quadratic formula, gives:

x = 5.077, or x = -6 Now adding the two rows, we obtain:

This gives us solutions of: (5.077, 1.85) and (-6,0).

Graphically, we have:

Substituting + √2 into the first equation gives us

y = ± √2.
Then
Likewise, substituting -√2 into the first equation also gives us
Using quadratic formula gives
y = ± √2.

This gives us the solutions

(√2, √2), (√2, -√2), (-√2, √2) and (-√2, -√2).

Only the positive root has meaning (since we cannot have negative resistance), so
3. The impedance Z in an alternating-current circuit is 2.00 W. If the resistance R is
numerically equal to the square of the reactance X, find R and X. R = 1.56 W and therefore X = √1.56 = 1.25 W .

Answer 4. Find the intersection points for the circles

The statement "R is numerically equal to the square of the reactance X" simply means (x + 2)2 + (y − 3)2 = 25
R = X2.
and
Recall (from Application of Complex Numbers) that
(x − 1)2 + (y + 4)2 = 16

. Answer

In this case, we assume that XL- XC = X. a. Setting the right side to 0 and expanding each equation gives:

Equation [1]:
So (x + 2)2 + (y − 3)2 = 25

So, on squaring both sides, we have (x + 2)2 + (y − 3)2 − 25 = 0

x2 + 4x + 4 + y2 − 6y + 9 − 25 = 0

x2 + 4x + y2 − 6y − 12 = 0
2
But R = X (since R is equal to the square of X) so
Equation [2]:
.
(x − 1)2 + (y + 4)2 = 16
(x − 1)2 + (y + 4)2 − 16 = 0

x2 − 2x + 1 + y2 + 8y + 16 − 16 = 0

x2 − 2x + y2 + 8y + 1 = 0

Solving the above 2 results simultaneously gives:

6x − 14y − 13 = 0
d. Solve for x:
Solving for y gives:

This means the intersection points are on the line

b. Solve one of the circle equations for y using:

This gives:

This gives us a quadratic in x

c. Substitute the positive case into LHS of

 and the intersection points are all correct when we draw the graph:

or more simply

e. Substitute these two x-values into

So the points of intersection are (1.9177, −0.1067) and (−2.4522, −1.9795).

[We could have substituted the x-values into either circle equation and solved for y,
but what I have done is easier.

We can see that the circles, the line