SYSTEMS OF LINEAR EQUATIONS IN THREE VARIABLES

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4.

Solve the equation formed in the previous step and write down the answer to all the
questions. It is important to answer all the questions that you were asked. Often you
will be asked for several quantities in the answer and the equation will only give one
of them.

Guidelines in Solving Systems of Equations involving Three Variables:

1. Choose a pair of equations Use the addition method to eliminate one of the
variables. This will be Equation 4.
2. Choose a different pair of equations and eliminate the same variable. This will be
Equation 5.
3. Use Equation 4 and 5 to get the first unknown.
4. Substitute the first answer to Equation 4 or 5. You will get the second answer.
5. Substitute the two answers into the original equation to get the last answer.
6. Check your answer by substituting the values that you got into the original equation.
REMEMBER!!!
If you got 0 = 0 as the answer, the system of equation is DEPENDENT, and have
an INFINITE number of solutions.
If you got 0 = (some number other than zero) as the answer, the system of equation
is INCONSISTENT, and have NO solutions.

5.

A
Check your answer. Do this by plugging into the equation, but also use intuition to
make sure that the answer makes sense. Mistakes can often be identified by
acknowledging that the answer just doesnt make sense.

Tips:
For investment, deposit, revenue and earnings problem, do the table technique that I
taught you. It will usually give you 2 equations and then find another relation that is
stated in the problem. This relation will serve as your 3rd equation. Then solve.

Guidelines in Solving Word Problems:

1. READ THE PROBLEM CAREFULLY.
2.

R
Represent one of the unknown quantities with a variable and try to relate all the
other unknown quantities (if there are any of course) to this variable.

3.

E
Form an equation that will relate known quantities to the unknown quantities. To do
this make use of known formulas and often the figure sketched in the previous step
can be used to determine the equation.

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mspalaganas