Solving in terms of z , three variable two equation system

quadraticssymmetric-polynomialssystems of equations

Solve in terms of $z$
$$
\begin{cases}
4z&= x + 2y \\
3z^2&=\frac{1}{2}x^2 + y^2 \\
\end{cases}
$$

Solution: $x = 2z/3$ and $y = 5z/3$.

I don't understand how they got to the solution with just those two equations I tried using substitution but was unable to single out a variable. I substituted $x = 4z-2y$ into eq.2 but got a quadratic I was unable to solve The problem itself on Khan Academy

Best Answer

From the first equation we get $$z=\frac{x+2y}{4},$$ subsituting that into equation two we get $$3\Big(\frac{x+2y}{4}\Big)^2=\frac{1}{2}x^2+y^2,$$ or equivalently $$\frac{3x^2+12yx+12y^2}{16}=\frac{1}{2}x^2+y^2\Rightarrow 3x^2+12yx+12y^2=8x^2+16y^2,$$ which simplifies to $$5x^2-12xy+4y^2=0.$$ This is a quadratic in $x$ and this factorises to (by inspection or, if you like, using the quadratic formula) $$(5x-2y)(x-2y)=0\Rightarrow x=\frac{2y}{5},\quad x=2y.$$ Now, from equation one, observe that $x=4z-2y$, so $$\frac{2y}{5}=4z-2y\Rightarrow\frac{12y}{5}=4z\Rightarrow y=\frac{5z}{3}.$$ Then $$x=4z-2\Big(\frac{5z}{3}\Big)=4z-\frac{10z}{3}=\frac{2z}{3}.$$

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