Question

How do you solve the system of equations `-2y - 5x = 2` and `- 5x = 2y - 4`?

Answer 1

`0=-6`
No solution.

Explanation:

A simple way to solve this is through elimination.

The first thing you need to do is bring the `2y` to the same side as the `-5x`, so we'll subtract `2y` on both sides.

`-5x-2y=cancel(2y-2y)-4`

Now you need to look form terms that can easily be eliminated from this problem. It looks like the `-2y` terms can cancel easily so we'll just multiply one equation by `-1` to make one `2y` positive and cancel the two terms.

`-1(-2y-5x=2)=2y+5x=-2`

Then we add the equations together.

`2y+5x=-2`
`-2y-5x=-4`
`0=-6`

Both the `y and x` canceled leaving `0=-6` which is an untrue statement, so it has no solution.