To solve a system of equations in Python, we can use functions from the NumPy library.
The following examples show how to use NumPy to solve several different systems of equations in Python.
Example 1: Solve System of Equations with Two Variables
Suppose we have the following system of equations and we’d like to solve for the values of x and y:
5x + 4y = 35
2x + 6y = 36
The following code shows how to use NumPy to solve for the values of x and y:
import numpy as np #define left-hand side of equation left_side = np.array([[5, 4], [2, 6]]) #define right-hand side of equation right_side = np.array([35, 36]) #solve for x and y np.linalg.inv(left_side).dot(right_side) array([3., 5.])
This tells us that the value for x is 3 and the value for y is 5.
Example 2: Solve System of Equations with Three Variables
Suppose we have the following system of equations and we’d like to solve for the values of x, y, and z:
4x + 2y + 1z = 34
3x + 5y – 2z = 41
2x + 2y + 4z = 30
The following code shows how to use NumPy to solve for the values of x, y, and z:
import numpy as np #define left-hand side of equation left_side = np.array([[4, 2, 1], [3, 5, -2], [2, 2, 4]]) #define right-hand side of equation right_side = np.array([34, 41, 30]) #solve for x, y, and z np.linalg.inv(left_side).dot(right_side) array([5., 6., 2.])
This tells us that the value for x is 5, the value for y is 6, and the value for z is 2.
Example 3: Solve System of Equations with Four Variables
Suppose we have the following system of equations and we’d like to solve for the values of w, x, y, and z:
6w + 2x + 2y + 1z = 37
2w + 1x + 1y + 0z = 14
3w + 2x + 2y + 4z = 28
2w + 0x + 5y + 5z = 28
The following code shows how to use NumPy to solve for the values of w, x, y, and z:
import numpy as np #define left-hand side of equation left_side = np.array([[6, 2, 2, 1], [2, 1, 1, 0], [3, 2, 2, 4], [2, 0, 5, 5]]) #define right-hand side of equation right_side = np.array([37, 14, 28, 28]) #solve for w, x, y, and z np.linalg.inv(left_side).dot(right_side) array([4., 3., 3., 1.])
This tells us that the value for w is 4, x is 3, y is 3, and z is 1.
Additional Resources
The following tutorials explain how to solve a system of equations using other statistical software:
How to Solve a System of Equations in R
How to Solve a System of Equations in Excel