Solving Systems of Equations by Elimination

The Elimination method, also known as the addition/subtraction method, is another method that is commonly used in solving systems of equations. The idea behind this method is to make one variable in both equation have the same coefficient so when you add or subtract both equations this variable gets eliminated and you are only left with one variable to solve for. Just like the substitution method, once you have the value of one variable you can plug it back in any of the original equations and find the value of the other variable.

What if you don't have any of your two variables with the same coefficient? Then you can muliply the equations by a common number to make the coefficients identical. (remember that if you multiply one term in the equation by a number, you must do the same to all other terms.)

Click on the image on the left for a bigger picture of a detailed worked example. For more examples and explanations watch the following video.

 

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