2x+3y= -17 5x+2y= -4 You must cancel either the x or y out to solve so i'm going to cancel the x. -5(2x+3y= -17) 2(5x+2y= -4) This simplifies to: -15x -15y=85 15x+4y= -8 The -15x and 15x cancel out leaving you: -15y=85 4y= -8 You add them top numbers by the bottom and get: -11y=77 Then divide by -11 to get y by its self. y= -7 Now that you know what y is just plug it in to either original problem. I will use the second one. 5x + 2(-7) = -4 5x -14 = -4 5x = 10 x = 2 So the answer is (2,-7) or x=2 and y=-7
