How do you write the equation in point slope form given ( -2 , 5 ) , ( 4 , -3 )?

1 Answer
Jun 1, 2017

Answers: y-5=-4/3(x+2) or y+3=-4/3(x-4)

Explanation:

Write point-slope form of a linear equation given points (-2,5) and (4,-3).

Note that the general form of point-slope form is:
y-y_1=m(x-x_1) where m is the slope of the line and (x_1,y_1) is a point on the line.

First, we need to find the slope, m:
We know that m=(y_2-y_1)/(x_2-x_1) with points (x_1,y_1) and (x_2,y_2)
So, we can plug in our given values:
m=(5-(-3))/(-2-4)
m=8/(-6)
m=-4/3

Now, we choose one of the points to write the equation in point slope form, (I will write both possible equations in point-slope form):
For (-2,5)
y-5=-4/3(x+2)

For (4,-3)
y+3=-4/3(x-4)