Once you've learned how to graph
linear inequalities, you can move on to
solving systems of linear inequalities.
A "system" of linear inequalities is a
set of linear inequalities that you deal with all at once. Usually you start off with two or three
linear inequalities. The technique for solving these systems is fairly simple. Here's an example.
Solve the following system:
2x – 3y<12 x
+ 5y<20 x > 0
Just as with solving single linear inequalities,
it is usually best to solve as many of the inequalities as possible for "y"
on one side. Solving the first two inequalities, I get the rearranged system:
"Solving" systems of linear inequalities
means "graphing and finding the intersections". So I graph each inequality, and then
find the intersection of the solution regions.
For the rearranged system above, the first
line looks like this:
This inequality is a "greater than"
inequality, so I want to shade above the line. However. since there is more than one
inequality, I don't know (yet) how much of that upper side I will actually need. Until
I know, I can keep track of the fact that I want the top region by drawing a little "fringe"
along the top side of the line, like this:
Now I graph the second line:
...and, since this is a "less than"
inequality, I'll draw the fringe along the bottom of the line:
The last inequality is a common "real
life" constraint: only allowing x
to be positive. The line "x
= 0" is just the y-axis,
and I want the right-hand side. I need to remember to dash the line in, because this
isn't an "or equal to" inequality, so the boundary (the line) isn't included
in the solution:
The "solution" of the system
is the region where all the inequalities are happy; that is, the solution is where all
the inequalities work, the region where all three individual solution regions overlap.
In this case, the solution is the shaded part in the middle:
