How do you write an equation in standard form for a line which passes through (5, -1) and (4, -2)?

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Answer 1 · 2015-05-11T22:27:55

I don't know what you mean by "standard form", so I'm gonna write you both implicit and explicit formulas, so you can choose.

The formula of a line between two points #(x_0,y_0)# and #(x_1,y_1)# is

#(y-y_0)/(y_1-y_0)=(x-x_0)/(x_1-x_0)#

So the explicit formula is

#y=(y_1-y_0)/(x_1-x_0)x-(y_1-y_0)/(x_1-x_0)x_0+y_0 =>#
#=> y= (-2+1)/(4-5)x+(-2+1)/(4-5)(5)-1 => y=x+4#

Therefore, the implicit formula is

#y-x-4=0#