lines and slopes

Question

Consider the line =y+−x7

.What is the slope of a line perpendicular to this line?What is the slope of a line parallel to this line?

Answer 1

The slope of the given line is the coefficient in front of the variable, in this case x. it looks like you may have been trying to write y=-x+7. If so, you can rewrite it as y=-1x + 7. The -1 is the slope and the 7 is the y-intercept. The slope of a line perpendicular to a given line is -1/m, where m is the slope of the given line,. In this case, the slope of the given line is -1, and so, the slope of the perpendicular line is -1/(-1) = +1. The slope of a line parallel to a given line is the same as the slope of the given line. In this case the slope of the parallel line is -1 because it is the same as the slope of the given line. However, please note that I am assuming that this is the right equation. The equation you wrote in this form is incorrect. The equal sign should be to the right of y not left of y and the +-x7 is incorrect because it should be either + or -, not both. x7 should be rewritten as 7x. I hope that helps.

Answer 2

Madison,

In general, put the equation into y = mx + b form. The slope is the number next to the x.

The slope of any line parallel to it is the same.

The slope of any line perpendicular to it has the opposite sign and is the reciprocal.

So, for example, if y = 7 x + 12 , the slope of this line is 7 or 7/1.

The slope of a parallel line is also 7 or 7/1.

The slope of a perpendicular line is -1/7.

I am not able to determine from what you typed in exactly what your equation is.

Maybe you want to check it again.

Linda