document.write( "<A HREF=/cgi-bin/jump-to-question.mpl?question=72709>Question 72709</A>: <I><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> please help me solve this equation:\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "18x + 5y = 100 </SPAN>\n" );
document.write( "</I><HR><TABLE width=100%><TR><TD><B><A HREF=http://www.algebra.com/>Algebra.Com's</A> Answer #52024 by </B><A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=bucky><B>bucky(2189)</B></A><img src=\"/images/stars/stars-13.gif\" alt=\"\" >&nbsp;<A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=bucky><IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/images/aboutme-small.gif BORDER=0 alt=\"About Me\" VALIGN=MIDDLE></A>&nbsp;<IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/images/nopicture.jpg><BR>You can <A HREF=\"/cgi-bin/embed-solution.mpl?show=1&solution=52024\">put this solution on YOUR website!</A><BR><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> You can't use a single equation to find the values for two variables. To find values of<BR>\n" );
document.write( "x and y you need two independent equations because there are two unknowns.<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "What you could do is graph this equation. Then you could say that any point on the graph is<BR>\n" );
document.write( "a solution to the equation. The graph of this equation is:<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "<IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=/cgi-bin/plot-formula.mpl?expression=graph%28500%2C500%2C-30%2C30%2C-30%2C30%2C%28-18%2F5%29%2Ax%2B20%29 ALIGN=MIDDLE  ALT=\"graph%28500%2C500%2C-30%2C30%2C-30%2C30%2C%28-18%2F5%29%2Ax%2B20%29\"   DISABLED_style= \"max-width:90%; height:auto;\" ><BR>\n" );
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document.write( "and the coordinates of any point on the graphed line give x and y values that will make<BR>\n" );
document.write( "the equation work.<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "Another thing you could do is to solve for y in terms of the variable x. Or you could<BR>\n" );
document.write( "solve for x in terms of the variable y.  But again this does not solve the equation<BR>\n" );
document.write( "which generally means to find a set of numerical values of x and y.<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "As an example, if you had said that the problem was to solve for y in terms of x, you would<BR>\n" );
document.write( "start with:<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "<IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=/cgi-bin/plot-formula.mpl?expression=18x+%2B+5y+=+100 ALIGN=MIDDLE  ALT=\"18x+%2B+5y+=+100\"   DISABLED_style= \"max-width:90%; height:auto;\" ><BR>\n" );
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document.write( "then subtract 18x from both sides to get:<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "<IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=/cgi-bin/plot-formula.mpl?expression=5y+=+-18x+%2B+100 ALIGN=MIDDLE  ALT=\"5y+=+-18x+%2B+100\"   DISABLED_style= \"max-width:90%; height:auto;\" ><BR>\n" );
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document.write( "and finally divide all the terms on both sides by 5 to get:<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "<IMG STYLE=\"max-width:80%;\" SRC=/cgi-bin/plot-formula.mpl?expression=y+=+%28-18%2F5%29%2Ax+%2B+20 ALIGN=MIDDLE  ALT=\"y+=+%28-18%2F5%29%2Ax+%2B+20\"   DISABLED_style= \"max-width:90%; height:auto;\" ><BR>\n" );
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document.write( "This is the solution for y in terms of the variable x.<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "Hope this helps you to understand the difficulty with your problem.  Perhaps if you provided<BR>\n" );
document.write( "more information regarding what you mean by \"solve this equation\" ... </SPAN>\n" );
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