What is an equation of the line that passes through the points (-6, -5)and (−4,−6)? Put your answer in fully reduced form.

Answer 1

Hi Dusty,

The equation of a line can be written in slope intercept form:

y = mx + b where m is the slope and b is the y-intercept

You can use the two points to find the slope m:

m = y₂ - y_{1 =} -5 - (-6 ) = 1

x₂ - x₁ -6 - (-4) -2

Now you can select either point and substitute the coordinates in the equation to determine b, the y intercept. Let's us (-4, -6):

y= mx + b

-6= -1 (-4) + b

2

-6 = 2 + b

-6 - 2 = 2 + b - 2

-8 = b

The equation will be:

y = -1 x - 8

2

In standard form, the equation would be transformed as:

1x + 2y = -16