SOLVING BY ELIMINATION

Examine pairs of equations to determine if the elimination method can be used to solve them
simultaneously.

TASK 1 Match up
Match the pairs of equations with the result after eliminating one variable.

Pair of equations Result after adding or subtracting

1 2x + 3y = 1 A 2x = 6
x – 3y = 5
2 3x + 5y = 12 B 3x = 6
3x – 2y = 6
3 3x + y = 7 C 2y = 6
x+y=1
4 x + 3y = 10 D 7y = 6
x+y=4

TASK 2 Fill in the blanks

Complete the solutions by filling in the blanks.

a 5a – 2b = 24 (i) b 4a + 3b = 23 (i)
3a + 2b = 8 (ii) a + 3b = 8 (ii)
(i) + (ii) (i) – (ii)

a= a=

a= a=

Substitute a = into (i): Substitute a = into (i):

5× – 2b = 24 4× + 3b = 23

+ 3b = 23
– 2b = 24
3b =
– 2b =
b=
b=
Check: Substitute a = b= into (ii):
Check: Substitute a = b= into (ii):
+3× =
3× +2× =
The solution is:
The solution is:
a= and b =
a= and b =
TASK 3 Solve simultaneous equations using elimination

Solve the following pairs of equations:

a x + 2y = 8 b 2x + y = 4
x + 5y = 11 x – y = 20

c 5x – y = 14 d 7x – 2y = 27
5x – 2y = 23 3x – 2y = 7

e 3x – 5y = 23 f 5x + 4y = 15
4x + 5y = 19 –5x – 6y = 5

g 4x – 7y = 10 h 2x + y = 9
4x – 3y = 2 2x – 5y = 15