How do you find the slope given (a,3) and (3,a)?

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Answer 1 · 2016-09-09T17:17:13

The slope is $-1$

Slope of line passing through $(x_1,y_1)$ and $(x_2,y_2)$ is

$(y_2-y_1)/(x_2-x_1)$

Hence, slope of line given $(a,3)$ and $(3,a)$ is

$(a-3)/(3-a)$

= $(a-3)/(-(a-3)$

= $-1$

Answer 2 · 2016-09-09T17:19:53

$m = -1$

The formula for slope is $m = (y_2-y_1)/(x_2-x_1)$

$m = (3-a)/(a-3)$

Using a "switch-round" technique by dividing the numerator by a common factor of $-1$ we get

$m = (-(a-3))/((a-3))$

$m = -1$