Question

How do you find the slope of the line that goes through the given points (-1, 1) and (1 -7)?

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)(-7) - color(blue)(1))/(color(red)(1) - color(blue)(-1)) = (color(red)(-7) - color(blue)(1))/(color(red)(1) + color(blue)(1)) = -8/2 = -4`