Question 32·Medium·Systems of Two Linear Equations in Two Variables
Consider the system of equations below.
For which value of does the system have infinitely many solutions?
For systems of linear equations with a parameter (like ) asking for infinitely many solutions, quickly recall that this occurs only when the two equations are the same line. Compare coefficients: find the ratio between the -coefficients and require that the -coefficients and constants share the exact same ratio, then solve the resulting simple equation for the parameter. Always distinguish this case from “no solution,” which happens when the and coefficients are in the same ratio but the constants are not, indicating parallel but distinct lines.
Hints
Think about the geometry of the system
What must be true about the two lines represented by the equations if there are infinitely many solutions? Are they intersecting, parallel but distinct, or something else?
Compare corresponding coefficients
Write down the coefficients of , , and the constant term from both equations. How are and related? Whatever that relationship is, it must also hold between and , and between and .
Use the ratio from the -terms
You know the ratio between and . Set up an equation so that the ratio between and is the same as the ratio between and , then solve for .
Double-check the whole equation
After you find a candidate value for , multiply the entire first equation by the ratio and see if you get the second equation exactly. If you do, that value of gives infinitely many solutions.
Desmos Guide
Graph the first equation
In Desmos, type the first equation solved for : y = (14 - 3x)/2. This is the line representing .
Test each answer choice for the second equation
For each option for (for example, ), substitute it into , solve for , and graph that line in Desmos. For instance, with a generic , you would rearrange to y = (28 - 6x)/k when , or to x = 28/6 when .
Look for overlapping lines
Compare each graphed line with the first line. The value of that makes the second graph lie exactly on top of the first line (they coincide everywhere, not just intersect once) is the value that gives infinitely many solutions in the system.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the condition for infinitely many solutions
A system of two linear equations has infinitely many solutions only when both equations describe the same line.
That means:
- The coefficient of in one equation must be a constant multiple of the coefficient of in the other.
- The same constant multiple must apply to the coefficient of .
- And the same constant multiple must apply to the constant term (the number on the right side).
Find the ratio between the two equations using the -coefficients
Compare the -coefficients in the two equations:
- First equation: has as the coefficient of .
- Second equation: has as the coefficient of .
The ratio from the first to the second is
So, to represent the same line, every part of the first equation must be multiplied by to get the second equation.
Apply the same ratio to the -coefficients and constant term
Using the ratio :
- The -coefficient in the first equation is .
- The constant term in the first equation is .
For the equations to be the same line, we need:
- The -coefficient in the second equation () to match times the first -coefficient.
- The constant term to match times (which it already does).
So we must have the condition
Solve for and confirm
Solve the equation from the previous step:
Multiply both sides by :
Check: If we multiply the entire first equation by , we get
which matches the form when . This means the two equations are the same line, so the system has infinitely many solutions when .