Russ P. answered • 10/25/14
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Cassie,
Just solve it for the slope m. If you do your manipulations correctly, the equality still holds, and the resulting equation is still the same but appears in a different form, so it is equivalent.
Solution: m = (y - b)/x for x different from zero. For x=0 the slope is irrelevant because y = b.
Damazo T.
Hey, Russ... is this a new formula?? Or I am slow??? Please explain!!! Slowly!!!
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10/26/14
Damazo T.
Huhababa??
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10/26/14
Russ P.
You may have already gotten it. Just plot the two points (x1,y1) and (x2,y2) on a coordinate system and connect them with a line segment. It becomes the hypotenuse of a right triangle whose vertical side is (goes thru (x2,y1) and (x2,y2), and whose horizontal
side connects (x1,y1) and (x2,y1). The slope m is just the vertical side length (y2-y1) divided by the horizontal side length (x2-x1).
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10/26/14
Russ P.
I forgot to mention that m is also the tan(Θ) = m = (y2-y1)/(x2-x1) of the acute angle of the right triangle opposite the vertical side.
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10/26/14
Russ P.
10/25/14