We begin with the system:
x+y+2z2x+3y+az−x−3y+bz=6,=a+1,=2b. Step 1. Solve the first equation for
:
x=6−y−2z. Step 2. Substitute
x=6−y−2z into the second equation:
2(6−y−2z)+3y+az=a+1. Expanding and simplifying:
12−2y−4z+3y+az=a+1⟹y+(a−4)z=a−11. Call this Equation (I). Step 3. Substitute
x=6−y−2z into the third equation:
−(6−y−2z)−3y+bz=2b. Expanding and simplifying:
−6+y+2z−3y+bz=2b⟹−2y+(b+2)z=2b+6. Call this Equation (II). Step 4. For the system to have infinitely many solutions, the two equations in
and
must be dependent—that is, one must be a constant multiple of the other. Assume there exists a constant
such that
−2=k⋅1⟹k=−2. Apply this to the coefficient of
and the constant term. For the
-coefficient in Equations (I) and (II):
b+2=k(a−4)=−2(a−4)=−2a+8. Thus,
b=−2a+6. For the constant term:
2b+6=k(a−11)=−2(a−11)=−2a+22. Substitute
into this equation:
2(−2a+6)+6=−2a+22⟹−4a+12+6=−2a+22. Simplify:
−4a+18=−2a+22. Solve for
:
−4a+18+4a=−2a+22+4a⟹18=2a+22, 2a=18−22=−4⟹a=−2. Substitute
into
:
b=−2(−2)+6=4+6=10. Step 5. We now compute
7a+3b=7(−2)+3(10)=−14+30=16. Thus, the value of
is