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Equations can be classified according to the highest power of the variable. Since the highest power of the variable in a linear equation is one, it is also called a first-order equation.
A system of linear equations that has one unknown is a set of equations that all depend on the same variable. An example is y = 1 + 3x and y = 4 + 7x.
You cannot work a simultaneous equation. You require a system of equations. How you solve them depends on their nature: two or more linear equations are relatively easy to solve by eliminating variables - one at a time and then substituting these values in the earlier equations. For systems of equations containing non-linear equations it is simpler to substitute for variable expression for one of the variables at the start and working towards the other variable(s).
y=3x+2 y-4x=9 These are examples of linear equations which is a first degree algebraic expression with one, two or more variables equated to a constant. So x=2 is a linear equation as is y=1 but x2 =1 is not since the variable, x , has degree 2.
A system of linear equations that has at least one solution is called consistent.