4. Steps for Solving Problem Solving in Linear Systems of Equations Read and try to formulate a visual picture of what the problem is talking about. This is the synapses I always ask for. Find what the question is asking you to find. There will usually be two things that the question is asking you to find. Define these unknowns to be your variables. Be specific with your defining of the variables.

5. Find the two totals that are found in the problem. These are totals that usually a quantity amount and a dollar amount. Write an equation for both totals using your defined variables. Look like this: x + y = total of something ($ or %)x + ($ or %)y = total in money Or you have to use formulas to write the two equations to create your system of Linear Equations. Like for the Perimeter and Area of a shape such as a rectangle. Look like this: P = 2l + 2w or P = 2(l + w) A = lw Once you have your two equations simply solve them using any of the three methods learned in class.

7. I am selling tickets at a basketball game. There are two types of tickets: general and student. I sell so many tickets and make a total of so much money. I am trying to find how many student and how many general tickets that I sold during the basketball game. Therefore I will let x = number of student tickets sold and y = number of general admission tickets sold. The problem talks about total number of tickets sold at the game and a total amount of money collected for selling those tickets. So I need an equation that represents the total number of tickets sold at the game which is made up of the number of student tickets sold and the number of general admission tickets sold at the game. ( x + y = 350). I also need an equation that represents the total amount of money collected for the selling of those tickets. This means I need to know the total amount of money collected for each type of ticket, thus the number of tickets sold times their cost. (3x + 5y = 1450). Solve the system: x + y = 350 3x + 5y = 1450