If 8ab+7b+3a=c, whats the best way to figure out either a or b

  • Level: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter clearwater304
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Figure
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
Sign up Log in
2 replies · 2K views
clearwater304
Messages
88
Reaction score
0
C is a known number, therefore I would only need to solve for a or b. Whats the best way to solve this, a few things come to mind, using a matrix or differential equations, but I'm not sure how they are applicable to this situation.
 
Mathematics news on Phys.org

Discussion

There are infinitely many solutions. So you're going to have a free variable. So let a be the free variable, then you can easily solve for b.
 
I should have mentioned, a and b are integers, and there is only one solution for a and b to get c. I may be able to find another equation that is equal to c. Would I need this in order to solve the equation?