Question

How do you solve the system of equations `2a - b = 1` and `a = \frac { 3} { 5} b`?

Answer 1

Substitute the second equation into the first equation.

Explanation:

Since we know that `a=3/5b`, we can plug that into the first equation and solve for `b`:

`2(3/5b)-b=1`
`6/5b-b=1`
`1/5b=1`
`b=5`

Since we know that `b=5`, we can take that and put it into one of our original equations. To make finding `a` easier, let's use the second equation:

`a=3/5(5)`
`a=3`

We now have our answers: `a=3, b=5`