sat suite question viewer
In the given system of equations, is a constant. If the system has no solution, what is the value of ?
Explanation
The correct answer is . Solving by substitution, the given system of equations, where is a constant, can be written so that the left-hand side of each equation is equal to . Subtracting from each side of the first equation in the given system, , yields . Adding to each side of the second equation in the given system, , yields . Since the left-hand side of each equation is equal to , setting the the right-hand side of the equations equal to each other yields . A linear equation in one variable, , has no solution if and only if the equation is false; that is, when there's no value of that produces a true statement. For the equation , there's no value of that produces a true statement when . Therefore, for the equation , there's no value of that produces a true statement when the value of is . It follows that in the given system of equations, the system has no solution when the value of is .