In order to solve the system of equations below, Harvey multiplies each equation by a constant to eliminate the x terms. 7x + 3y = 5 2x + 5y = - 11

Question

Maryjane Kent

Mathematics

5 July, 03:55

In order to solve the system of equations below, Harvey multiplies each equation by a constant to eliminate the x terms. 7x + 3y = 5 2x + 5y = - 11

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Kassidy Beasley · Answer 1

Harvey would need to multiply the first equation by - 2 and the second equation by 7.

You can tell this by looking for the least common multiple of each x coefficient. Below are the multiples of both numbers.

7: 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42

2: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18

You'll notice that the first number to appear in both lists is 14. So we must multiply so that one x is 14 and the other is - 14. To do this, we know we must multiply 7 by - 2 and 2 by 7. This will give us the desired result. You can solve for y after that.