How do you solve the system Y=x+7, x2+y2=25?

1 Answer
Jan 1, 2016

Substitute y=x+7 into x2+y2=25 to get a quadratic in x, hence solutions:

(x,y)=(3,4)or(4,3)

Explanation:

Substitute y=x+7 into x2+y2=25 ...

25=x2+y2

=x2+(x+7)2

=x2+x2+14x+49

=2x2+14x+49

Subtract 25 from both ends to get:

2x2+14x+24=0

Divide through by 2 to get:

x2+7x+12=0

We can factor this by finding a pair of factors of 12 whose sum is 7. The pair 3,4 works.

Hence:

0=x2+7x+12=(x+3)(x+4)

This has roots x=3 and x=4, corresponding to y=4 and y=3 respectively.