What is the slope of the line passing through the following points: # (1,5), (-1,-3) #?

2 Answers

#4#

Explanation:

Slope (#m#) of line passing through the points #(x_1, y_1)\equiv (1, 5)# & #(x_2, y_2)\equiv (-1, -3)# is given as follows

#m=\frac{y_2-y_1}{x_2-x_1}#

#=\frac{-3-5}{-1-1}#

#=4#

Jul 2, 2018

#m=4#

Explanation:

Slope is given by the expression

#(Deltay)/(Deltax)#, where the Greek letter #Delta# (Delta) represents change in.

If that expression seems foreign to you, all it is saying is we find out what our #y# changes by, and divide it by what our #x# changes by.

#y# goes from #5# to #-3#, which represents a change by #-8#, so we can say #Deltay=-8#.

#x# goes from #1# to #-1#. This represents a change by #-2#; We can say

#Deltax=-2#

Now, we divide the two. We get

#4# as our slope.

Hope this helps!