What is the slope of the line that passes through the points (1, 4) and (-3, 1)?

Question

What is the slope of the line that passes through the points (1, 4) and (−3, 1)?

Answer 1

slope of a line passing through two points (x₁,y₁) and (x₂,y₂)  = (y₂-y₁) / (x₂- x₁)

                                                                                            

                                                                                          = 1-4 /-3-1

                                                                                          

                                                                                          = -3 / -4

                                                                                        

                                                                                          = 3/4

 

Answer 2

The slope is sometimes described as "rise over run."  That means, the increase in y divided by the increase in x.

 

For this problem, the slope is:    (y₂ - y₁) / (x₂ -x₁)

                                               (1 - 4) / (-3 - 1)

                                                  -3 / -4

                                                    3/4