Will award medal! Out of these three methods, the Substitution method, Elimination method and the Graphing method, which one would you recommend using and why?

Question

anonymous · Answer

@LastDayWork

whpalmer4 · Answer

It depends on the problem!  If one of your equations is already solved for one of the variables (for example, $y = 3x$) or can be easily done, then substitution may be attractive.  If you have a system where coefficients are equal in magnitude but opposite in sign, elimination becomes convenient.  If you've already got graphs of the equations in the system, a graphical approach is easy.  For increasing numbers of variables and equations, elimination is usually the way to go.

My recommendation is to use the method that has the highest likelihood of getting you the right answer!  If you frequently make mistakes doing elimination, but never do with substitution, then do substitution, even if it seems like more work.