This week we learned a lot about the substitution method.

The substitution method is most useful for systems of 2 equations in 2 unknowns. The main idea here is that we solve one of the equations for one of the unknowns, and then substitute the result into the other equation.

Substitution method can be applied in four steps

Step 1:

Solve one of the equations for either x = or y = .

Step 2:

Substitute the solution from step 1 into the other equation.

Step 3:

Solve this new equation.

Step 4:

Solve for the second variable.

Example 1: Solve the following system by substitution

Solution:

Step 1: Solve one of the equations for either x = or y = . We will solve second equation for y.

Step 2: Substitute the solution from step 1 into the second equation.

Step 3: Solve this new equation.

Step 4: Solve for the second variable

The solution is: (x, y) = (10, -5)