Example 4: | Solve |
2x - y = 1 | |
6x - 3y = 3 |
When we change the equations to slope-intercept form...
2x - y = 1 becomes y = 2x - 1
slope = 2
y-intercept = -16x - 3y = 3 becomes y = 2x - 1
slope = 2
y-intercept = -1When we graph this it appears like that below:
Since the two lines coincide there is an infinite number of solutions to this system of equations. We can also tell this by looking at the slopes and y-intercepts of the lines. Although the slopes are the same, just like parallel lines, so are the y-intercepts which means that the two equations are the same line. You can choose any point on the line and it should satisfy both original equations.