2x + 2y = 16

6x + 4y =38

what is the value of x ?

a. x=1/3

b. x=-1

c. x=13

d. x=3

So to do this, we can find out the difference between the two equations, or subtract all the components from each other, so we can get a shared variable to see the difference of the other variable, if that makes any sense.

So just subtract the different components from each other.

6x - 2x + 4y - 2y = 38 - 16
= 4x + 2y = 22

And since 2y is shared with the first equation, 2x + 2y = 16, we can find out how much x changes things.

Since 22 is 6 away from 16, and only 2x was added, we can now say 2x = 6, or x = 3.

I hope I helped! :)