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| Question 93716:  how do I graph the system of equations 2x+5y=48 and 4x-2y=0
 Answer by bucky(2189)
      (Show Source): 
You can put this solution on YOUR website! A fairly straightforward and easy method of doing these two problems is to find three coordinate pairs that solve each equation. After doing that, plot the points and then draw a straight
 line through all three points.
 .
 Take the first equation:
 .
 
  .
 Suppose we set x equal to zero. Then the x term disappears and this equation reduces to:
 .
 
  .
 Solve for y by dividing both sides by 5 to get that:
 .
 
  .
 So this means that the {x, y) point of (0, 9.6) is on the graph.
 .
 Now lets return to the original equation and set y equal to zero. That makes the y term disappear
 and the equation is reduced to:
 .
 
  .
 Solve for x by dividing both sides of this equation by 2 to find that
 .
 
  .
 Therefore when x is 24, then y is 0 and this gives us that the (x, y) point (24, 0) is on the
 graph.
 .
 We can do this one more time to get a third point. This will serve as a good check since
 all three points must be in a straight line or else one or more of our points is wrong.
 .
 Return to the original equation and let's let x = 10. [We could choose any other number for
 x, but I guess 10 is an easy number to work with.] When x is 10 the original equation becomes:
 .
 
  .
 The 2 times 10 is 20 so the equation can be written as:
 .
 
  .
 Subtract 20 from both sides to get rid of the 20 on the left side and the equation is
 reduced to:
 .
 
  .
 Solve for y by dividing both sides by 5 to get:
 .
 
  .
 This means that the (x, y) point (10, 5.6) is on the graph.
 .
 Plot the three points (0, 9.6), (24, 0) and (10, 5.6) and extend a straight line through them
 to get the graph of the equation
  . It should look like: .
 
  .
 The second of your problems involves the equation
  .
 This equation can be graphed by selecting any three values of x and determining the corresponding
 three values of y that will give three (x, y) points for the graph.  For example, if
 you set x = 0 then the term containing x goes to zero, and the equation is reduced to:
 .
 
  .
 If you divide both sides by -2 the equation becomes:
 .
 
  .
 Therefore, the (x, y) point of (0, 0) is on the graph meaning that the graph goes through
 the origin.
 .
 Select another value for x ... say x = 2. If you substitute that value into the equation, it
 becomes:
 .
 
  .
 Do the multiplication to get:
 .
 
  .
 Subtract 8 from both sides to get rid of the 8 on the left side. This subtraction
 results in:
 .
 
  .
 and dividing both sides by -2 to solve for y leads to:
 .
 
  .
 So the (x, y) point (2, 4) is on the graph.
 .
 Finally let's set x = -2 and the equation becomes:
 .
 
  .
 Do the multiplication and the equation simplifies to:
 .
 
  .
 Get rid of the -8 on the left side by adding 8 to both sides to get:
 .
 
  .
 Then solve for y by dividing both sides by -2 to get:
 .
 
  .
 So the (x, y) point (-2, -4) is on the graph.
 .
 Plot the three points (0, 0), (2, 4), and (-2, -4) and extend a straight line through them
 to get the graph.  It should look like this:
 .
 
  .
 Hope these two exercises will show you one way of getting graphs from equations. That way
 is assigning values to x (or y) and calculating the value of the corresponding coordinates so
 that you can plot points on the graph and connect them to display an extended graph.
 
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