How do you calculate the slope given two points?

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Answer 1 · 2014-11-16T02:49:33

Use the slope formula (#m = (y_2 - y_1)/(x_2 - x_1)#) to calculate the slope given two points #(x_1, y_1)# and #(x_2, y_2)#.

Here is an example of finding the slope, given two points (-2,3) and (4,-5).

#(-2, 3) = (x_1, y_1)#
#(4, -5) = (x_2, y_2)#

#m = (y_2 - y_1)/(x_2 - x_1)#

#m = (-5 - 3)/(4 - (-2))#

#m = (-5 - 3)/(4 + 2)#

#m = (-8)/(6)#

#m =-4/3#

The slope of of (-2,3) and (-4,5) is #-4/3#