How do you solve y=|x|y=|x| and y=x+2y=x+2 using substitution?

1 Answer
Jul 11, 2017

(-1,1)(1,1)

Explanation:

Use the substitution y = absxy=|x|

y = x+2y=x+2

absx = x + 2|x|=x+2

Now subtract xx from both sides.

absx - x = 2|x|x=2

Hmm... how do we simplify this? Well, we have three cases:

  1. " "x x is positive
  2. " "x x is zero
  3. " "x x is negative

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If xx is positive, then absx = x|x|=x, so we can use this substitution:

absx - x = 2, " " x >0|x|x=2, x>0
x-x =2, " "color(white). x>0xx=2, .x>0
0 = 2, " "" "" "x>00=2, x>0

And since 00 is never equal to 22, this means we have no positive solutions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next, let's try case 2, when x=0x=0.

|0| - 0 = 2|0|0=2

0 = 20=2

Again, 00 cannot equal 22, so our solution cannot be x=0x=0.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, when xx is negative, absx|x| is the same as -xx, since to make a negative number positive, you add another negative sign. (Two negatives make a positive!) So, we can use the substitution absx = -x|x|=x:

absx - x = 2, " " x<0|x|x=2, x<0
-x-x = 2, " " x<0xx=2, x<0
-2x = 2, " "" " x<02x=2, x<0

Now we can divide both sides by -22 to find xx:

(-2x)/(-2) = 2/(-2), " "x<02x2=22, x<0

x = -1x=1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So this is the xx coordinate for our solution. To find the yy coordinate, we simply plug x=-1x=1 back into one of the original equations and solve for yy.

y = absxy=|x|
y = abs(-1y=|1|
y = 1y=1

So x=-1x=1 and y=1y=1. Therefore, our solution is (-1,1)(1,1).

Final Answer