How do you solve this system of equations by substitution: x+ 4y = - 14 and y = 2x - 8?

2 Answers
Mar 26, 2018

(x, y)=(2, -4)

Explanation:

We're given y=2x-8. This means that we can replace all instances of y in the first equation with 2x-8. The goal when given a system of equations in two variables is two get an equation with one variable and solve for that variable, and subsequently back-substitute your solution in to get the other variable.

x+4(2x-8)=-14

x+8x-32=-14

Solve for x:

9x-32=-14

9x=18

x=2

To solve for y, simply plug in x=2 into y=2x-8.

y=2(2)-8=-4

So, the solution is

(x, y)=(2, -4)

Mar 26, 2018

See a solution process below:

Explanation:

Step 1) Because the second equation is already solve for y we can substitute (2x - 8) for y in the first equation and solve for x:

x + 4y = -14 becomes:

x + 4(2x - 8) = -14

x + (4 xx 2x) - (4 xx 8) = -14

x + 8x - 32 = -14

1x + 8x - 32 = -14

(1 + 8)x - 32 = -14

9x - 32 = -14

9x - 32 + color(red)(32) = -14 + color(red)(32)

9x - 0 = 18

9x = 18

(9x)/color(red)(9) = 18/color(red)(9)

(color(red)(cancel(color(black)(9)))x)/cancel(color(red)(9)) = 2

x = 2

Step 2) Substitute 2 for x in the second equation and calculate y:

y = 2x - 8 becomes:

y = (2 xx 2) - 8

y = 4 - 8

y = -4

The Solution Is:

x = 2 and y = -4

Or

(2, -4)