The line on which the lines $a x+b y=1$ and $b x+a y=1$ (with $a \neq 0 \neq b$ ) intersect for any real…

The line on which the lines $a x+b y=1$ and $b x+a y=1$ (with $a \neq 0 \neq b$ ) intersect for any real values of $a$ and $b$ is
  1. $x=-y$
  2. $x=2 y$
  3. $2 x=y$
  4. $x=y$

Solution

Lines : $a x+b y=1$...(i) $b x+a y=1$...(ii) [Multiply Eq. (i) by $b$ ] - [Multiply Eq. (ii) by $a$ ] $a b x+b^2 y-a b x-a^2 y=b-a$ $\Rightarrow \quad y=\frac{b-a}{b^2-a^2}=\frac{1}{a+b}$ Put $y=\frac{1}{a+b}$ in Eq. (i), $a x=1-\frac{b}{a+b}=\frac{a}{a+b}$ $\therefore \quad x=\frac{1}{a+b}$ $\therefore$ Point of intersection of both lines are of type $\left(\frac{1}{a+b}, \frac{1}{a+b}\right)$. $\therefore$ Hence, such points lie on $x=y$ only.

Asked in: AP EAMCET 2022 (08 Jul Shift 2)

Practice more Straight Lines questions on Aicharya