Question 26479
Ok, lets go through the steps.
1.You need to solve the equation for x or y. Using the first equation(4x+y=16) lets solve for y.
     
       a.    4x + y = 16
       b. subtract 4x from both sides
       c. we get y =-4x + 16
2.Now we can use this information to solve the problem by substituting -4x+16 into y for the second equation (12x-13y=-160). Lets do this:


       a.   12x - 13y = -160
       b.   12x - 13(-4x+16) = -160    plug -4x+16  in for y
       c    12x - (-52x+208) = -160    distribute the 13 (notice I put the answer in parentheses so that I can distribute the - sign.)
      
       d.   12x + 52x - 208 = -160     distibute the - sign
       e.   64x - 208 = -160           combine like terms (x), now solve for x
       f.   add 208 to both sides
       g.   64x = 48                   next divide both sides by 64
           
       h.   x= 48/64 = .75              since we know y=-4x+16 lets plug in x to find y
       i.y= -4(.75)+16                 do the math
        y=13                           so the answer is x=.75 and y= 13

The best part of algebra is that you can check the solution by pluging it back into the problem. Remember it must be true for both of the ORIGINAL equation