T o p ic Linear

Equations
1
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Distinguish between linear and non-linear equations as well as
identify the variables involved; and
2. Find the solution to linear equations involving n variables.

INTRODUCTION
The equation of the form ax + by = e where a, b and e are constants and a and b
are non-zero is called a linear equation. The graph of the equation with a, b and e
taking any value is a straight line. This simple linear equation involves two
variables, x and y. In this topic we will be looking at equations of this type as well
as linear equations involving more than two variables.

1.1 LINEAR EQUATIONS IN n VARIABLES

Skill: Ability to differentiate between linear and non-linear equations.

Can you differentiate between linear equations and non-linear equations?

All straight lines in a plane-xy can be represented by the linear equation in two
variables

a1x + a2y = b.
2 TOPIC 1 LINEAR EQUATIONS

This equation is called the linear equation with two variables x and y. Linear
equations are not restricted to just two variables. We can have three variables,
four variables or n variables. A linear equation in n variables takes the form

a1x1 + a2x2 + … + anxn = b

where a1, a2, …, an and b are real constants.

Example 1.1
The following are some examples of linear equations.
(i) 2 x 3 y ! 16

(ii) x1 " 2 x2 3 x3 5 x4 ! 1

(iii) x1 x2 x3 ... xn 10

Observe that the variables are all raised to the power of one only. They are not
squared or cubed or arguments of some functions.

Example 1.2
Some examples of non-linear functions are given below.
(i) x + y2 = 3 (iv) 2x + 3y + z – xy = 2
(ii) y + 3 sin x = 7 (v) x + ln y + z = 3
(iii) x1 3 x2 x3 ! 1 (vi) ex + 2 y + z = 7

SELF-CHECK 1.1

State whether the equations below are linear or non-linear.

#1$ 7
(a) y + log x = 2x (b) 3x % & y!z
'6( 2
 TOPIC 1 LINEAR EQUATIONS ! 3

1.2 METHODS OF SOLVING LINEAR

EQUATIONS

Skill: Determining the solution set for linear equations.

The solution to the linear equations

a1 x1 a2 x2 ... an xn ! b

is the sequence of n numbers t1, t2, …, tn such that this equation is satisfied if the
replacement xn = tn is made, i.e,

a1t1 a2t2 ... antn ! b.

Example 1.3
Find the solution for the following linear equations:
(i) 4x – 3y = 1 (ii) x – 4y – 7z = 5

Solution
(i) Take any value for y and solve for x or, vice-versa.

Method 1: Assume y = t.

Then
1 3t
x! .
4

This formula gives a set of solution in terms of any parameter t. The

solution can also be written as
# 1 3t $
# x$ % &
% & ! % 4 & , t ) R.
' (
y
' t (
4 TOPIC 1 LINEAR EQUATIONS

Method 2: Assume x = t.

Then
4t 1
y! .
3

The solution can be written as

# 1 $
# x$ % &
% & ! % 4t " 1 & , t ) R.
' ( %
y &
' 3 (

Although the formula obtained in Method 2 looked different from

Method 1, the solution set obtained by both methods are the same, for all
real values of t.

Suppose in Method 1, we assigned one particular value to t, say t = 2.

Then substituting this value for t, we obtain
7
y = 2 and x = .
4
Method 2 will give exactly the same solution set to Method 1 when
7
t= .
4

(ii) We can assign any value to any two variables and solve for the third
variable.

Assume y = t and z = s.

Then

x = 5 + 4t + 7s.

Hence
# x $ # 5 4t 7 s $
% & % &
% y& ! % t & , t , s ) R.
%z& % s &
' ( ' (
 TOPIC 1 LINEAR EQUATIONS ! 5

ACTIVITY 1.1

Try and solve this linear equation x1 – 3x2 + 3x3 – 4x4 = 7, by using the
following substitution: x2 = r, x3 = s and x4 = t.

Answer the following questions to test your understanding of the previous section.

EXERCISE 1.1

1. State whether the following equations are linear or non-linear.

(a) 3 x1 2 x1 x2 " x3 ! 5

(b) 2 x1 x2 " x3 ! sin , , where , is a constant

(c) 2 x1 ! 3 x2 " 7 x3 " 1

1
(d) x1 " " 5 x3 ! 1
2 x2

2. Find the solution set for the following:

(a) 6x " 5 y ! 1 (b) 2 x1 4 x2 " 7 x3 ! 8

* Linear equations can be made up of many variables or unknowns.

* In order to solve an equation with n unknowns we can assign any value to its
n " 1 unknowns.
* It is apparent, therefore, that a linear equation with n + 2 unknowns can have
an infinite number of solutions.
6 TOPIC 1 LINEAR EQUATIONS

Linear equation Straight line

Non-linear equation