Definition
The slope of a line measures the direction that a line travels. It can be
calculated using
the formula
where (x1, y1) and (x2 , y2 ) are two points on the line.
Lines with positive slope increase from left to right,
while lines with negative slope
decrease from left to right. Horizontal lines have slope zero while the slope of
vertical
lines is undefined.
Definition
The y-intercept of a line is the y coordinate of
the point where the line crosses the yaxis.
There are two primary forms in which linear relations can
be ex pressed .
Definition
The slope- intercept form for the equation of a line
is y = mx + b where m is the slope
of the line and b is the y-intercept.
Definition
The standard form for the equation of a line is Ax
+By = C where A, B and C are real
numbers .
Example 1
Find the slope and y-intercept for the line 2x + 3y = 9.
Solution
Solving for y changes the line into slope-intercept form.
Thus the slope is − 2/3 and the y-intercept is 3.
Example 2
Find the equation (in slope-intercept form) of the line
that passes through the points
(-2, 3) and (6, 7).
Solution
The slope of the line is
So the equation becomes
Substituting the point (6, 7) into the equation produces:
Therefore the line has the equation:
Property
Two lines are parallel if they have the same slope.
That is m1 = m2 where m1 and m2
are the slopes of the two lines.
Example 3
Find the equation (in slope-intercept form) of the line
that is parallel to the line
and passes through the point (-3, 1).
Solution
The slope of the original line is 1/3 so the slope of the
new line must also be 1/3.
So the equation for the new line is
Substituting the point (-3, 1) into the equation produces:
Therefore the line has the equation:
Property
Two lines are perpendicular if their slopes are
negative reciprocals of each other. That
is, 
where m1 and m2
are the slopes of the two lines.
Example 4
Find the equation (in slope-intercept form) of the line
that is perpendicular to the line
and passes through the point (-3, 1).
Solution
The slope of the original line is 1/3 so the slope of the
new line must be -3.
So the equation for the new line is y = −3x + b .
Substituting the point (-3, 1) into the equation produces:
Therefore the line has the equation: y = −3x − 8.
§5-2 PROBLEM SET
Find the slope and y-intercept for each line below
Write an equation in slope-intercept form for each of the
fol lowing lines .
13. The line with a slope of 1/3 and a y-intercept of 13.
14. The line with a slope of -3 and a y-intercept of 4.
15. The line with a slope of 5 which passes through the point (1, 3).
16. The line with a slope of -2 which passes through the point (4, -1).
17. The line which passes through the points (-2, -5) and (0, 1).
18. The line which passes through the points (5, -2) and (-3, 4).
19. The line which is parallel to y = -2x + 7 and passes through the point (2,
10).
20. The line which is parallel to 
and passes
through the point (2, 3).
21. The line which is perpendicular to 2x - y = -3 and passes through the point
(3, 0).
22. The line which is perpendicular to 
and
passes through the point (1, 5).
23. The line which is parallel to y = 5 and passes through the point (4, -2).
24. The line which is perpendicular to y = -2 and passes through the point (-1,
-3).
25. The line which is perpendicular to x = 4 and passes through the point (-4,
1).
26. The line which is parallel to x = -1 and passes through the point (-5, -3).
27. A line segment has endpoints (-5, 4) and (13, -2). Find the equation of the
line
which is perpendicular to this segment and which passes through the midpoint of
the line segment.
