Question

Describe when you would need to solve a system of linear equations, instead of a single linear equation

Answer 1

See explanation below

Explanation:

A system of linear equations is a system that is formed when you have two or more variables, for example:

`x=2y+z\\3y-4x=7y+2z\\2y+z=4x+3y`

In this case, we have 3 equations with 3 variables in total (x, y and z). Thus, we would need to solve a system of linear equations (they are linear because none of the variables have exponents).

On the other side, a single linear equation has only one variable that we need to find, for example:

`3x=(5)/(3)`

In this case we would just have to solve for x

`3x=(5)/(3) \\9x=5\\x=(5)/(9)`

Thus, we need to solve a system of linear equations when we have more than one variable (and more than one equations) as opposed to when we have just one variable and a single equation (single linear equation)