How do you solve the system of equations 8x=2y+5 and 3x=y+7 using substitution?

1 Answer
Apr 24, 2016

Find an expression for y and work from there to get a solution of (-9/2,-41/2).

Explanation:

I'll start by labeling each equation to make the solving process easier to follow:
i.............8x=2y+5
ii............3x=y+7

Start by subtracting 7 from both sides of equation ii:
3x=y+7
3x-7=y+cancel(7)-cancel(7)
->y=3x-7

Now substitute this into equation i for y:
8x=2y+5
8x=2(3x-7)+5

And solve for x:
8x=2(3x-7)+5
8x=6x-14+5
2x=-9
x=-9/2

We found earlier that y=3x-7. We now have the value of x, so we'll use it to find y:
y=3x-7
y=3(-9/2)-7
y=-27/2-7
y=-27/2-14/2
y=-41/2

The solution, then, is (-9/2,-41/2).