Question

Use elimination to solve the following system of equations: 17x - 2y = 25 17x + 3y = 5

Answer 1

Step-by-step explanation:

$17x - 2y = 25$

$17x + 3y = 5$

Both equations have a $17x$ term in them, so if we subtract the second equation from the first, it will eliminate those terms, allowing us to solve for the remaining $y$ terms:

$(17x - 2y) - (17x + 3y) = 25 - 5$

$(17x - 17x) + (-2y - 3y) = 20$

$-5y = 20$

$y = -4$

Finally, we can plug this value for $y$ into either of the two original equations to solve for $x$:

$17x - 2(-4) = 25$

$17x + 8 = 25$

$17x = 17$

$x = 1$

This means the solution to the system of equations is $(1, -4)$.