How do you solve x = -5 + 2yx=5+2y and 2x + 3y = 42x+3y=4 using substitution?

1 Answer
Aug 5, 2016

To solve, substitute the xx in the second equation for the xx in the first equation.

Explanation:

The first equation is already solved for xx, so let's put that equation into the second equation. It'll look like this:

2(-5+2y)+3y=42(5+2y)+3y=4

Next, use the distributive property to simplify our equation:

-10+4y+3y=410+4y+3y=4

Now, let's combine 3y3y and 4y4y to make 7y7y:

-10+7y=410+7y=4

Next, add 1010 to each side:

7y=147y=14

The final step in solving for y is to divide each side by 77:

y=2y=2

We've now solved for y. Now, we have to solve for x. The easiest way to do this is to substitute our y-value into the first equation, since it's already solved for x:

x=-5+2(2)x=5+2(2)

x=-5+4x=5+4

x=-1x=1

Using our x and y value and combining them to get an ordered pair, we now have our answer: (-1,2)(1,2)