Solve the system of equations below using elimination. You must show all work to earn full credit.



2x+5y=20


3x−5y=5

1 answer

To solve the system of equations using the elimination method, we'll start with the given equations:

  1. \( 2x + 5y = 20 \) \quad (Equation 1)

  2. \( 3x - 5y = 5 \) \quad (Equation 2)

Step 1: Align the equations

We will align the equations for clarity.

\[ \begin{align*}

  1. & \quad 2x + 5y = 20 \
  2. & \quad 3x - 5y = 5 \ \end{align*} \]

Step 2: Add the equations

To eliminate \( y \), we can add the two equations, as they have coefficients of \( +5y \) and \( -5y \).

First, we can just add the two equations directly:

\[ (2x + 5y) + (3x - 5y) = 20 + 5 \]

This simplifies to:

\[ 5x + 0y = 25 \]

Thus, we have:

\[ 5x = 25 \]

Step 3: Solve for \( x \)

Now, divide both sides by \( 5 \):

\[ x = \frac{25}{5} = 5 \]

Step 4: Substitute \( x \) back into one of the original equations

We can substitute \( x = 5 \) into Equation 1 to solve for \( y \):

\[ 2(5) + 5y = 20 \]

This simplifies to:

\[ 10 + 5y = 20 \]

Step 5: Solve for \( y \)

Now, isolate \( y \) by subtracting \( 10 \) from both sides:

\[ 5y = 20 - 10 \]

\[ 5y = 10 \]

Now, divide by \( 5 \):

\[ y = \frac{10}{5} = 2 \]

Step 6: Write the final solution

The solution to the system of equations is:

\[ \boxed{(5, 2)} \]

Step 7: Verification

Let's verify our solution by substituting \( x = 5 \) and \( y = 2 \) back into both original equations:

Equation 1: \[ 2(5) + 5(2) = 10 + 10 = 20 \quad \text{(True)} \]

Equation 2: \[ 3(5) - 5(2) = 15 - 10 = 5 \quad \text{(True)} \]

Since both equations are satisfied, the solution \( (5, 2) \) is correct.