Linear Systems of Equations – Solving By Elimination

It is possible to add equations in a system together to eliminate one of the variables. This creates
a new equation with only one unknown, which you can easily solve for. You would then
substitute the value of that variable into one of the two original equations to solve for the other
variable.

If a system of equations is not already in a form that lends itself to elimination, you may multiply
one or both of the equations by a constant to force the system into the appropriate form. The
following examples illustrate how to solve systems by elimination.

Examples

1) Solve the system 6x – 5y = 21 and 2x + 5y = -5 by elimination.

Write the equations one on top of the other:

6𝑥 − 5𝑦 = 21
2𝑥 + 5𝑦 = −5

If we add the two equations together, the 5y and -5y would cancel each other, leaving x as the
only unknown. You must add together BOTH sides of the equations. Adding up the left sides of
both equations gives:

6𝑥 − 5𝑦 + 2𝑥 + 5𝑦

The 6x and 2x add to 8x, and the 5y and -5y cancel. Adding up the right sides of both equations
gives 21 + (-5) = 16. Therefore, we end up with:

8𝑥 = 16

Divide both sides by 8:

8𝑥 16
= →𝑥=2
8 8

Now we substitute back into either of the starting equations to solve for y:

2𝑥 + 5𝑦 = −5 → 2(2) + 5𝑦 = −5 → 4 + 5𝑦 = −5

Subtracting 4 from both sides gives:

5𝑦 = −5 − 4 = −9

Dividing both sides by 5 gives y = -9/5. Therefore, the solution to the system is x = 2, y = -9/5.
 2) Solve the system -2x + 7y = 5 and 4x – 2y = 14.

Write the equations with one on top of the other:

−2𝑥 + 7𝑦 = 5
4𝑥 − 2𝑦 = 14

In this case, adding the equations together would not help us. We would still have two unknowns
since -2x + 4x = 2x and 7y – 2y = 5y. However, we can multiply the top equation by 2 to
generate a -4x. We can use that to eliminate the 4x from the bottom equation. You must multiply
BOTH sides of the top equation by 2. Every single term must be multiplied by the constant.

(−2𝑥 + 7𝑦 = 5) ∗ 2 → −2𝑥 ∗ 2 + 7𝑦 ∗ 2 = 5 ∗ 2 → −4𝑥 + 14𝑦 = 10

We can now rewrite our system as follows:

−4𝑥 + 14𝑦 = 10
4𝑥 − 2𝑦 = 14

Adding both sides of the two equations together gives:

−4𝑥 + 14𝑦 + 4𝑥 − 2𝑦 = 10 + 14

Combining like terms causes the 4x’s to cancel and leaves us with 12y on the left:

12𝑦 = 24 → 𝑦 = 2

Now we can substitute y = 2 into either of the two original equations:

−2𝑥 + 7𝑦 = 5 → −2𝑥 + (7)(2) = 5 → −2𝑥 + 14 = 5

Subtract 14 from both sides:

−2𝑥 = 5 − 14 = −9 → −2𝑥 = −9

Dividing both sides by -2 gives x = 9/2. Therefore, the solution to the system is x = 9/2, y = 2.

3) Solve the system 7x – 5y = -2 and 3x – 3y = 7 by elimination.

Rewriting the equations:

7𝑥 − 5𝑦 = −2
3𝑥 − 3𝑦 = 7

In this case, we need to multiply both equations by a constant to eliminate a variable. We can
multiply the top equation by 3 and the bottom equation by -5. We would end up with a -15y in
the top equation and a +15y in the bottom equation. Adding the equations would cancel the y’s
as desired.

(7𝑥 − 5𝑦 = −2)(3) → 21𝑥 − 15𝑦 = −6

(3𝑥 − 3𝑦 = 7)(−5) → −15𝑥 + 15𝑦 = −35

Adding both sides of the two equations together gives:

21𝑥 − 15𝑦 − 15𝑥 + 15𝑦 = −6 + (−35)

The 15y’s on the left cancel, 21x – 15x = 6x, and -6 + -35 = -41. This gives:

6𝑥 = −41

Dividing by 6 gives x = -41/6. Now we can substitute this value of x into either of the two
original equations to solve for y:

41 41
3𝑥 − 3𝑦 = 7 → 3 4− 5 − 3𝑦 = 7 → − − 3𝑦 = 7
6 2

Add 41/2 to both sides:

41 14 41 55
−3𝑦 = 7 + = + =
2 2 2 2

Divide both sides by -3:

55
627
𝑦= = −55/6
−3

Therefore, the solution of the system is x = -41/6 and y = -55/6.

4) Solve the system x – 4y = 7 and 5x + 9y = 6 by elimination.

Rewriting the equations:

𝑥 − 4𝑦 = 7
5𝑥 + 9𝑦 = 6

The easiest solution is to multiply the top equation by -5. This will allow us to add the resulting
equations together to cancel the 5x’s.

(𝑥 − 4𝑦 = 7)(−5) → −5𝑥 + 20𝑦 = −35

We can rewrite the system as:

 −5𝑥 + 20𝑦 = −35
5𝑥 + 9𝑦 = 6

Adding both sides of the equations together gives:

−5𝑥 + 20𝑦 + 5𝑥 + 9𝑦 = −35 + 6

The 5x’s cancel, 20y + 9y = 29y, and -35 + 6 = -29. This gives the following:

29𝑦 = −29 → 𝑦 = −1

We can substitute this back into either of the original equations to solve for x:

𝑥 − 4𝑦 = 7 → 𝑥 − 4(−1) = 7 → 𝑥 + 4 = 7 → 𝑥 = 3

Therefore the solution of the system is x = 3 and y = -1.

5) Solve the system of equations 4x – 7y = 11 and x + 2y = 10 by elimination.

Rewriting the equations:

4𝑥 − 7𝑦 = 11
𝑥 + 2𝑦 = 10

We can multiply the bottom equation by -4 to create a -4x. When we add the equations together,
the 4x’s will cancel out.

(−4)(𝑥 + 2𝑦 = 10) → −4𝑥 − 8𝑦 = −40

We can rewrite the system as:

4𝑥 − 7𝑦 = 11
−4𝑥 − 8𝑦 = −40

Adding the left and right sides together gives:

4𝑥 − 7𝑦 − 4𝑥 − 8𝑦 = 11 − 40

The 4x’s on the left cancel, -7y – 8y = -15y, and 11 – 40 = -29. Therefore we are left with:

29
−15𝑦 = −29 → 𝑦 =
15

We can substitute this value for y back into either of the two original equations to solve for x:
 29 58
𝑥 + 2𝑦 = 10 → 𝑥 + 2 4 5 = 10 → 𝑥 + = 10
15 15

Subtracting 48/15 for both sides gives:

58 150 58 92
𝑥 = 10 − = − =
15 15 15 15

Therefore the solution to the system is x = 92/15, y = 29/15.

Practice Problems

Solve the following systems of equations by elimination:

1) x + y = 5, 3x + 2y = 12

2) 7x – 4y = 13, -2x – 9y = -24

3) 5x + y = -4, 2x – y = 3

4) x – 3y = -3, 2x + 7y = 8

5) 12x + 5y = 17, 9x – 5y = 4

6) 7x + 4y = 18, 3x – 2y = 4

7) 10x + 7y = 45, 3x – 4y = -17

8) 5x + 6y = 0, 2x + 3y = 3

9) 3 +2x + 6y =14 – x, 7 – 3x – y + 5 = y + x + 12

10) 3x – 5y – 7 = 2x – 4, x + 2y – 3 = 14 + x