Module 2

Linear Equations In Two Variables

Linear equations in two variables, explain the geometry of lines or the graph of two lines,
plotted to solve the given equations. As we already know, the linear equation represents a
straight line. The plotting of these graphs will help us to solve the equations, which consist of
unknown variables. Previously we have learned to solve linear equations in one variable, here we
will find the solutions for the equations having two variables.

Table of contents:

 Definition
 Solution

o Example
o Unique Solution
o No Solution
 System of Linear Equation in Two
Variables
 Problems and Solutions
 Word Problems
 FAQs

Definition
An equation is said to be linear equation in two variables if it is written in the form of ax + by +
c=0, where a, b & c are real numbers and the coefficients of x and y, i.e a and b respectively, are
not equal to zero.
For example, 10x+4y = 3 and -x+5y = 2 are linear equations in two variables.
The solution for such an equation is a pair of values, one for x and one for y which further makes
the two sides of an equation equal.

Solution of Linear Equations in Two Variables

The solution of linear equations in two variables, ax+by = c, is a particular point in the graph,
such that when x-coordinate is multiplied by a and y-coordinate is multiplied by b, then the sum
of these two values will be equal to c. 
Basically, for linear equation in two variables, there are infinitely many solutions.

Example
In order to find the solution of Linear equation in 2 variables, two equations should be known to
us.
Consider for Example:
5x + 3y = 30
The above equation has two variables namely x and y.
Graphically this equation can be represented by substituting the variables to zero.
The value of x when y=0 is
5x + 3(0) = 30
⇒ x = 6
and the value of y when x = 0 is,
5 (0) + 3y = 30
⇒ y = 10
It is now understood that to solve linear equation in two variables, the two equations have to be
known and then the substitution method can be followed. Let’s understand this with a few
example questions.

Unique Solution
For the given linear equations in two variables, the solution will be unique for both the equations,
if and only if they intersect at a single point. 
The condition to get the unique solution for the given linear equations is, the slope of the line
formed by the two equations, respectively, should not be equal.
Consider, m  and m  are two slopes of equations of two lines in two variables. So, if the equations
1 2

have a unique solution, then:

m  ≠ m
1 2

No Solution
If the two linear equations have equal slope value, then the equations will have no solutions.
m   = m
1 2

This is because the lines are parallel to each other and do not intersect.

System of Linear Equations in Two Variables

Instead of finding the solution for a single linear equation in two variables, we can take two sets
of linear equations, both having two variables in them and find the solutions. So, basically the
system of linear equations is defined when there is more than one linear equation. 
For example, a+b = 15 and a-b = 5, are the system of linear equations in two variables. Because,
the point a = 10 and b = 5 is the solution for both equations, such as:
a+b=10 + 5 = 15
a-b=10-5 = 5
Hence, proved point (10,5) is solution for both a+b=15 and a-b=5.

Problems and Solutions

Question: Find the value of variables which satisfies the following equation:
2x + 5y = 20 and 3x+6y =12.
Solution:
Using the method of substitution to solve the pair of linear equation, we have:
2x + 5y = 20…………………….(i)
3x+6y =12……………………..(ii)
Multiplying equation (i) by 3 and (ii) by 2, we have:
6x + 15y = 60…………………….(iii)
6x+12y = 24……………………..(iv)
Subtracting equation (iv) from (iii)
3y = 36
⇒ y = 12
Substituting the value of y in any of the equation (i) or (ii), we have
2x + 5(12) = 20
⇒ x = −20
Therefore, x=-20 and y =12 is the point where the given equations intersect.
Now, it is important to know the situational examples which are also known as word problems
from linear equations in 2 variables.
Check: Linear Equations Calculator

Word Problems
Question 1: A boat running downstream covers a distance of 20 km in 2 hours while for
covering the same distance upstream, it takes 5 hours. What is the speed of the boat in still
water?
Solution:
These types of questions are the real-time examples of linear equations in two variables.
In water, the direction along the stream is called downstream. And, the direction against the
stream is called upstream.
Let us consider the speed of a boat is u km/h and the speed of the stream is v km/h, then:
Speed Downstream = (u + v) km/h
Speed Upstream = (u – v) km/h
We know that, Speed = Distance/Time
So, the speed of boat when running downstream = (20⁄2) km/h = 10 km/h
The speed of boat when running upstream = (20⁄5) km/h = 4 km/h
From above, u + v = 10>…….(1)
u – v = 4 ………. (2)
Adding equation 1 and 2, we get: 2u = 1
u = 7 km/h
Also, v = 3 km/h
Therefore, the speed of the boat in still water = u = 7 km/h
Question 2: A boat running upstream takes 6 hours 30 minutes to cover a certain distance, while
it takes 3 hours to cover the same distance running downstream. What is the ratio between the
speed of the boat and speed of the water current, respectively?
Solution: If the speed downstream is a km/hr and the speed upstream is b km/hr, then
Speed in still water = (a + b)/2 km/h
Rate of stream = ½ (a − b) kmph
Let the Boat’s rate upstream be x kmph and that downstream be y kmph.
Then, distance covered upstream in 6 hrs 30 min = Distance covered downstream in 3 hrs.
⇒ x × 6.5 hrs = y × 3hrs
⇒ 13/2x = 3y
⇒ y = 13x/6
The required ratio is = y+x2 : y–x2y+x2 : y–
x2 ⇒ 13x6 + x2 : 13x6 − x2⇒ 13x6 + x2 : 13x6 − x2 ⇒ 19x62 : 7x62⇒ 19x62 : 7x62
= 19:7

Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs

How to solve linear equation in two variables?
For a system of linear equations in two variables, we can find the solutions by the elimination
method.

How many solutions are there for linear equations in two variables?
For linear equations in two variables, there are infinitely many solutions.

What is the two-variable equation?

A linear equation in two variables is an equation which has two different solutions.

What are the coefficients of the equation 3x-6y = -13?

The coefficient of x is 3 and the coefficient of y is -6.
What is the constant of the equation 3x-6y=-13?
The constant of the equation 3x-6y=-13 is -13.

Linear Systems With Two Variables

A linear system of two equations with two variables is any system that can be
written in the form.

ax+by=p
cx+dy=q
ax+by=p
cx+dy=q

where any of the constants can be zero with the exception that each equation
must have at least one variable in it.

Also, the system is called linear if the variables are only to the first power, are
only in the numerator and there are no products of variables in any of the
equations.

Here is an example of a system with numbers.

3x−y=72
x+3y=13
x−y=72
x+3y=1

Before we discuss how to solve systems we should first talk about just what a
solution to a system of equations is. A solution to a system of equations is a
value of xx and a value of yy that, when substituted into the equations,
satisfies both equations at the same time.

For the example above x=2x=2 and y=−1y=−1 is a solution to the system.

This is easy enough to check.

3(2)−(−1)=72
(2)+3(−1)=13
(2)−(−1)=72
(2)+3(−1)=1

So, sure enough that pair of numbers is a solution to the system. Do not worry
about how we got these values. This will be the very first system that we solve
when we get into examples.

Note that it is important that the pair of numbers satisfy both equations. For
instance, x=1x=1 and y=−4y=−4 will satisfy the first equation, but not the
second and so isn’t a solution to the system.
Likewise, x=−1x=−1 and y=1y=1 will satisfy the second equation but not the
first and so can’t be a solution to the system.

Now, just what does a solution to a system of two equations represent? Well if
you think about it both of the equations in the system are lines. So, let’s graph
them and see what we get.

As you can see the solution to the system is the coordinates of the point
where the two lines intersect. So, when solving linear systems with two
variables we are really asking where the two lines will intersect.

We will be looking at two methods for solving systems in this section.

The first method is called the method of substitution. In this method we will

solve one of the equations for one of the variables and substitute this into the
other equation. This will yield one equation with one variable that we can
solve. Once this is solved we substitute this value back into one of the
equations to find the value of the remaining variable.
In words this method is not always very clear. Let’s work a couple of examples
to see how this method works.

Example 1 Solve each of the following systems.

1. 3x−y=7

2x+3y=1

2. 5x+4y=1

3x−6y=2

Solutions
a 3x−y=7
2x+3y=1

So, this was the first system that we looked at above. We already know the
solution, but this will give us a chance to verify the values that we wrote down
for the solution.

Now, the method says that we need to solve one of the equations for one of
the variables. Which equation we choose and which variable that we choose
is up to you, but it’s usually best to pick an equation and variable that will be
easy to deal with. This means we should try to avoid fractions if at all possible.

In this case it looks like it will be really easy to solve the first equation for y
y so let’s do that.

3x−7=y3
x−7=y

Now, substitute this into the second equation.

2x+3(3x−7)=12
x+3(3x−7)=1

This is an equation in xx that we can solve so let’s do that.

2x+9x−21=111x=22x=22x+9x−21=111x=22x=2

So, there is the xx portion of the solution.

 Finally, do NOT forget to go back and find the yy portion of the solution. This
is one of the more common mistakes students make in solving systems. To so
this we can either plug the xx value into one of the original equations and
solve for yy or we can just plug it into our substitution that we found in the first
step. That will be easier so let’s do that.

y=3x−7=3(2)−7=−1

So, the solution is x=2x=2 and y=−1y=−1 as we noted above.

b 5x+4y=13x−6y=2

As with single equations we could always go back and check this solution by
plugging it into both equations and making sure that it does satisfy both
equations. Note as well that we really would need to plug into both equations.
It is quite possible that a mistake could result in a pair of numbers that would
satisfy one of the equations but not the other one.

Let’s now move into the next method for solving systems of equations. As we
saw in the last part of the previous example the method of substitution will
often force us to deal with fractions, which adds to the likelihood of mistakes.
This second method will not have this problem. Well, that’s not completely
true. If fractions are going to show up they will only show up in the final step
and they will only show up if the solution contains fractions.

This second method is called the method of elimination. In this method we

multiply one or both of the equations by appropriate numbers (i.e. multiply
every term in the equation by the number) so that one of the variables will
have the same coefficient with opposite signs. Then next step is to add the
two equations together. Because one of the variables had the same
coefficient with opposite signs it will be eliminated when we add the two
equations. The result will be a single equation that we can solve for one of the
variables. Once this is done substitute this answer back into one of the
original equations.

As with the first method it’s much easier to see what’s going on here with a
couple of examples.

Example 2 Problem Statement.

1. 5x+4y=1
 3x−6y=2

2. 2x+4y=−10

6x+3y=6

a 5x+4y=1
3x−6y=2  

This is the system in the previous set of examples that made us work with
fractions. Working it here will show the differences between the two methods
and it will also show that either method can be used to get the solution to a
system.

So, we need to multiply one or both equations by constants so that one of the
variables has the same coefficient with opposite signs. So, since the yy terms
already have opposite signs let’s work with these terms. It looks like if we
multiply the first equation by 3 and the second equation by 2 the yy terms will
have coefficients of 12 and -12 which is what we need for this method.

Here is the work for this step.

5x+4y=1×3−−→15x+12y=33x−6y=2×2−−→6x−12y=4–––––––––––––––21x=7

So, as the description of the method promised we have an equation that can
be solved for xx. Doing this gives, x=13x=13 which is exactly what we found in
the previous example. Notice however, that the only fraction that we had to
deal with to this point is the answer itself which is different from the method of
substitution.

Now, again don’t forget to find yy. In this case it will be a little more work than
the method of substitution. To find yy we need to substitute the value
of xx into either of the original equations and solve for yy. Since xx is a
fraction let’s notice that, in this case, if we plug this value into the second
equation we will lose the fractions at least temporarily. Note that often this
won’t happen and we’ll be forced to deal with fractions whether we want to or
not.

3(13)−6y=21−6y=2−6y=1y=−16

Again, this is the same value we found in the previous example.

b 2x+4y=−106x+3y=6

In this part all the variables are positive so we’re going to have to force an
opposite sign by multiplying by a negative number somewhere. Let’s also
notice that in this case if we just multiply the first equation by -3 then the
coefficients of the xx will be -6 and 6.

Sometimes we only need to multiply one of the equations and can leave the
other one alone. Here is this work for this part.

2x+4y=−10×−3−−−−→−6x−12y=306x+3y=6same−−
−→6x+3y=6––––––––––––––––––−9y=36y=−4

Finally, plug this into either of the equations and solve for xx. We will use the
first equation this time.

2x+4(−4)=−102x−16=−102x=6x=3

So, the solution to this system is x=3x=3 and y=−4y=−4.

There is a third method that we’ll be looking at to solve systems of two

equations, but it’s a little more complicated and is probably more useful for
systems with at least three equations so we’ll look at it in a later section.

Before leaving this section we should address a couple of special case in

solving systems.

Example 3 Solve the following systems of equations. x−y=6

−2x+2y=1

We can use either method here, but it looks like substitution would probably
be slightly easier. We’ll solve the first equation for xx and substitute that into
the second equation.

x=6+y−2(6+y)+2y=1−12−2y+2y=1−12=1??

So, this is clearly not true and there doesn’t appear to be a mistake anywhere
in our work. So, what’s the problem? To see let’s graph these two lines and
see what we get.
It appears that these two lines are parallel (can you verify that with the
slopes?) and we know that two parallel lines with different yy-intercepts (that’s
important) will never cross.

As we saw in the opening discussion of this section solutions represent the

point where two lines intersect. If two lines don’t intersect we can’t have a
solution.

So, when we get this kind of nonsensical answer from our work we have two
parallel lines and there is no solution to this system of equations.

The system in the previous example is called inconsistent. Note as well that

if we’d used elimination on this system we would have ended up with a similar
nonsensical answer.

Example 4 Solve the following system of equations.2x+5y=−1−10x−25y=5

In this example it looks like elimination would be the easiest method.

2x+5y=−1×5−−→10x+25y=−5−10x−25y=5same−−
−→−10x−25y=5––––––––––––––––––0=0

On first glance this might appear to be the same problem as the previous
example. However, in that case we ended up with an equality that simply
wasn’t true. In this case we have 0=0 and that is a true equality and so in that
sense there is nothing wrong with this.

However, this is clearly not what we were expecting for an answer here and
so we need to determine just what is going on.
We’ll leave it to you to verify this, but if you find the slope and yy-intercepts for
these two lines you will find that both lines have exactly the same slope and
both lines have exactly the same yy-intercept. So, what does this mean for
us? Well if two lines have the same slope and the same yy-intercept then the
graphs of the two lines are the same graph. In other words, the graphs of
these two lines are the same graph. In these cases any set of points that
satisfies one of the equations will also satisfy the other equation.

Also, recall that the graph of an equation is nothing more than the set of all
points that satisfies the equation. In other words, there is an infinite set of
points that will satisfy this set of equations.

In these cases we do want to write down something for a solution. So, what
we’ll do is solve one of the equations for one of the variables (it doesn’t matter
which you choose). We’ll solve the first for yy.

2x+5y=−15y=−2x−1y=−25x−15

Then, given any xx we can find a yy and these two numbers will form a
solution to the system of equations. We usually denote this by writing the
solution as follows,

x=ty=−25t−15wheret is any real number x=ty=−25t−15wheret is any real

number

To show that these give solutions let’s work through a couple of values of tt.

t=0t=0

x=0y=−15x=0y=−15

To show that this is a solution we need to plug it into both equations in the
system.

2(0)+5(−15)?=−1−10(0)−25(−15)?=5−1=−15=5

So, x=0x=0 and y=−15y=−15 is a solution to the system. Let’s do another one

real quick.

t=−3

x=−3y=−25(−3)−15=65−15=1
Again we need to plug it into both equations in the system to show that it’s a
solution.

2(−3)+5(1)?=−1−10(−3)−25(1)?=5−1=−15=5

Sure enough x=−3x=−3 and y=1y=1 is a solution.

So, since there are an infinite number of possible tt’s there must be an infinite
number of solutions to this system and they are given by,

x=ty=−25t−15wheret is any real number x=ty=−25t−15wheret is any real

number

Systems such as those in the previous examples are called dependent.

We’ve now seen all three possibilities for the solution to a system of
equations. A system of equation will have either no solution, exactly one
solution or infinitely many solutions.