Question

How do you find the slope of (1,-1); (-2,-6) without a graph?

Answer 1

See a solution process below:

Explanation:

The formula for find the slope of a line is:

`m = (color(red)(y_2) - color(blue)(y_1))/(color(red)(x_2) - color(blue)(x_1))`

Where `(color(blue)(x_1), color(blue)(y_1))` and `(color(red)(x_2), color(red)(y_2))` are two points on the line.

Substituting the values from the points in the problem gives:

`m = (color(red)(-6) - color(blue)(-1))/(color(red)(-2) - color(blue)(1)) = (color(red)(-6) + color(blue)(1))/(color(red)(-2) - color(blue)(1)) = (-5)/-3 = 5/3`