- multiply the second equation by -2; it becomes -2x-10y= -16 - add 2x+3y=9 and -2x-10y= -16 - we get -7y=-7 - solve for y by dividing both sides by -7 - we get y=1 - now that we have found y, we pick either original equation to plug it into to get the value of x - if we use 2x+3y=9, we plug 1 in for y to get 2x+3(1)=9 - 3x1=3, so the equation is now 2x+3=9 - to eliminate the 3, we add -3 to both sides. - after that, we are left with 2x=6 - by dividing both sides by 2, we are left with x=3