Question

How do you determine the slope of the line passing through J(1, -4), K(3, -1)?

Answer 1

The slope of line JK is 3/2.

Explanation:

The slope formula is `(y_2-y_1)/(x_2-x_1)`, but I don't like formulas. There's almost always an easier way to remember this. In this case, it's "rise over run".

Rise is the change in the y-coordinates, and run is the change in the x-coordinates. You always put the 'y' on top so the slope makes "sense".

In this case, you can find the slope by thinking about this as a ratio of rise to run. You can see that the y-coordinate goes up 3 from J to K, and the x-coordinate goes up 2 from J to K, so the slope is the rise/run ratio 3/2.

Final Answer