Algebra 1

Section 7.3

Solving Systems of Equations And Inequalities Graphically

Graphically Obtaining Solutions to Systems of Linear Equations

In addition to solving systems of linear equations algebraically, it is possible to visualize the

solution to a system of linear equations by graphing the lines formed by each equation.

Notice that for a linear equation involving x and y, the line made by graphing the equation con-
tains all the points (x, y) that make the equation true. Thus, for two lines graphed in the xy-plane, any
points shared by the two lines must satisfy the graphs equations, or make them true. Geometrically,
it is impossible for two lines to intersect at a finite number of points greater than 1. That means any
two lines will have either no points in common, one point in common, or infinitely many points in
common (and in fact be the same line).

This information makes it possible to solve a system of two linear equations by graphing both
equations in the plane and looking at the point(s) where the lines intersect if they intersect. The
point(s) of intersection would then be the solution(s) to the system of linear equations. For example,
consider the system of linear equations below.

2x + y = 5

3x 2y = 4

Rewriting these equations in point-slope form makes them easier to graph. This is the first thing
that should be done when solving a system of linear equations graphically. The result of this rewriting
is the modified system below.

y = 2x + 5

y = 23 x 2

Graphing these equations on the same plane results in the intersecting graphs below. The point
at which the graphs intersect, (2, 1) is the solution to the system of equations.

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 y

(2,1)

Note that this is the same system of linear equations as the one solved by substitution in 7.2.
It is important, then, that the solutions match. In fact, they do. This is reassuring because it means
that a system of linear equations can be solved algebraically or graphically and the result will be the
same.

As discussed in 7.2, if the two equations in a system have the same slope, the system will have
either no solution (if the constants being added to the x term in point-slope form are different for
each equation) or infinitely many solutions (if the constant being added to the x term in point-slope
form are the same for both equations). Note that in the first case, the two lines are parallel and thus
will never intersect. Thus, graphically, they can have no shared points and the system will have no
solution. In the second case, the two equations graph the same line and thus all the points on the lines
are the same, so all the infinitely many points on the line are solutions to the system.

For a visual representation, consider the example systems and graphs below.

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 2y 2 = 3x

4y = 6x + 8

Or, in point-slope form:

y = 32 x + 1

y = 32 x + 2

Lines have the same slope but different y-intercepts, are thus parallel and dont intersect.

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 2y 4x = 2

y + 1 = 2x

Or, in point-slope form:

y = 2x 1

y = 2x 1

A line shares all of its points with itself, and so intersects itself infinitely.
y

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Solving systems of Linear Inequalities Graphically

Recall from section 2 that the solution to linear inequalities with two variables are an entire
region of the xy-plane to one side of a line made by graphing the inequality as an equation. The line
may be part of the solution (for an "or equal to" equality) or not part of the solution (for a strict
inequality). For a more thorough review on graphing and solving linear inequalities, see section 2.

When dealing with systems of linear inequalities, then, the solutions of the system lie in the
intersection of the solutions of the inequalities in the system. This is the same as with systems of
linear equations, except that two different inequalities can have an intersection of more than one
point. For example, consider the system of linear inequalities below.

y 3x + 2

y < 2x + 3

By graphing these inequalities separately, we can see the solutions of the system as the intersection
of the inequalities (in green). The solution of the first equation is shown in blue (notice it includes the
line) and the solution of the second equation is shown in yellow (this doesnt include the line because
it is a strict inequality; the line is thus dashed).

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 There are some things to keep in mind when graphing the solutions to systems of linear in-
equalities. First, the inequalities may have no intersections. This would occur if two inequalities in a
system had parallel corresponding lines and the inequalities were in opposite directions, and the lines
position graphically is in the right order. For example, the following system of linear inequalities has
no solutions.

yx

y <x1

Additionally, the graphical solution to an inequality may include values that are not practical in
a real example. For instance, if a problem asks about the minimum pounds of flour needed to make
a cake, and there are negative values in the solution of the corresponding system of linear equations,
these values would not be correct answers to the problem. That is because it is impossible to have
negative pounds of flour. Although this specific problem may not come up, it is important to remember
the practical constraints of the exact problem when finding a solution.

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Examples

Here are a few examples to test the concepts provided in this section. Answers can be found on
the following pages.

1. Solve the following system by graphing.

2y = 4x + 10

3y 14 = 6x + 10

2. Solve the following system by graphing.

y 5x = 6

2y 3x 7 = 7x + 5

3. Solve the following system by graphing.

y < 2x + 2

2y 2x + 10

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Solutions

These are the solutions to the questions on the previous page

1. Both of the equations should be put into point-slope form. Divide both sides of the first equation
by 2 to get y = 2x + 5. Add 14 to both sides of the second equation and divide by 3 to get
y = 2x + 8. Then, graph these two lines. As shown in the graph below, they intersect at one
point, (0.75, 6.5). This is the solution to the system.

(0.75,6.5)

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2. The first equation can be put in point-slope form by adding 5x to both sides to get y = 5x + 6.
For the second equation, add 3x + 7 to both sides to get 2y = 10x + 12 and divide both sides 2
to find y = 5x + 6. The equations are identical so they will produce the same line. This means
the system has infinite solutions (x, y) such that y = 5x + 6. This can be visualized by the graph
below that shows the two equations produce the same line which intersects itself infinitely.

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3. First get the inequalities into point-slope form. The first inequality is already in point-slope
form, but for the second inequality one needs to divide by 2. Remember that when dividing by
a negative constant, it is necessary to flip the direction of the inequality. Doing so results in the
inequality y x + 5. Graph these two inequalities and the intersection (shown in green blow)
contains the points that solve the system. The first inequality is in yellow and the second is in
blue below.

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