Substitute y = − 2 x into the second equation.
Simplify the equation: 5 x − 7 ( − 2 x ) = − 38 ⇒ 19 x = − 38 .
Solve for x : x = − 2 .
Substitute x = − 2 into y = − 2 x to find y = 4 . The solution is x = − 2 , y = 4 .
Explanation
Analyze the problem We are given a system of two linear equations:
Equation 1: y = − 2 x Equation 2: 5 x − 7 y = − 38
Our goal is to find the values of x and y that satisfy both equations. We can use the substitution method to solve this system.
Substitution Substitute the expression for y from Equation 1 into Equation 2:
5 x − 7 ( − 2 x ) = − 38
Simplify the equation Simplify the equation:
5 x + 14 x = − 38
19 x = − 38
Solve for x Solve for x :
x = 19 − 38
x = − 2
Solve for y Now that we have the value of x , we can substitute it back into Equation 1 to find the value of y :
y = − 2 ( − 2 )
y = 4
State the solution Therefore, the solution to the system of equations is x = − 2 and y = 4 .
Examples
Systems of equations are used in many real-world applications, such as determining the break-even point for a business, calculating the optimal mix of ingredients in a recipe, or modeling traffic flow. For example, suppose a bakery sells cookies for $2 each and brownies for $3 each. If they want to make $100 in sales and sell twice as many cookies as brownies, they can set up a system of equations to determine how many of each item they need to sell. Solving this system helps them plan their production efficiently.
To solve the system of equations, we substitute y = − 2 x into the second equation, simplifying to find x = − 2 . We then find y by substituting x back into the first equation, yielding y = 4 . The solution to the system is ( − 2 , 4 ) .
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