If square EFGH is drawn on a graph and the slope of segment EF is negative 3 then what is the slope of FG? The answer is 1/3, but I don't understand why

Question

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Answer 1

adjoining sides of a square are perpendicular, at right angles to each other

EF and FG are perpendicular. To be perpendicular they have to have slopes that are negative inverses

3 is the negative inverse of -1/3

3 =3/1

flip the fraction upside down and change its sign to get the negative inverse.

Answer 2

Hi Brandon,

Squares have 90 degree angles. This means their sides are perpendicular line segments. When you have two perpendicular lines (or line segments), it means their slope is the negative reciprocal (switch the numerator and denominator).

The reciprocal of 3 = 3/1 is thus 1/3, and the negative of a positive number is just the negative number, so positive 3 becomes negative 1/3.

Let me know if you have any more questions - please feel free to message me here!