Help solve simultaneous equations

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I need to solve the system of equations

$$6x+y=3\tag 1 $$

$$x^2+y^2=16\tag 2$$

So first, I rearrange $(1)$ to $y=3-6x$ and substitute that into $(2)$.

I get $$x^2+(3-6x)^2 = 16$$

which is $$x^2 + 36x^2-36x+9-16=0$$

which is $$37x^2-36x-7=0$$.

This I need to solve by completing the square.

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To complete the square for something like this, the best way is to start by making the first coefficient a square. So we begin by multiplying both sides by $37$ to get $$37^2x^2-36\times37x-7\times37=0\ .$$ To avoid messing around with fractions, we would like the coefficient of $x$ to be even. Here, this is already the case. So completeing the square gives $$(37x-18)^2=7\times37+18^2\ .$$ I'm sure you can finish it from here.

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Exercise: Solve $37x^2-36x-7=0$ by the method of completing the square.

There is an alternate form of completing the square which can be useful when the coefficient of $x^2$ is large. Although the method avoids the use of fractions the trade-off is that it usually involves rather large numbers. The steps (using the present equation to illustrate) are

Given $ax^2+bx+c=0$,

  1. Note the values of $4a=148$ and $b^2=1296$
  2. Subtract $c$ from both sides: $37x^2-36x=7$
  3. Multiply both sides by $4a=148$ from step $1$: $5476x^2-5238x=1036$
  4. Add $b^2=1296$ from step $1$ to both sides: $5476x^2-5328x+1296=2332$
  5. The left side now equals the square $(2ax+b)^2$ of the derivative of $ax^2+bx+c$: $(74x-36)^2=2332$

From there the solution $x=\dfrac{18\pm\sqrt{583}}{37}$ is straightforward.

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$ 37 x^2 - 36 x - 7 = 0 $

Factor out the $37$ from the first two terms

$ 37 ( x^2 - \dfrac{36}{37} x ) - 7 = 0$

Take half of $\dfrac{36}{37}$ which is $\dfrac{18}{37} $ and add it with its sign to $ x $ then square both as follows

$ 37 ( x - \dfrac{18}{37} )^2 - 7 = 37 ( \dfrac{18}{37} )^2$

Multiply through by $37^2$

$ 37 ( 37 x - 18)^2 - 37^2 (7) = 37 (18)^2 $

Divide through by $37$

$ (37 x - 18 )^2 - 7(37) = (18)^2 = 324 $

So,

$ (37 x - 18)^2 = 324 + 7(37) = 583 $

Therefore,

$ x = \dfrac{1}{37} \left ( 18 \pm \sqrt{ 583 } \right)$