How do you graph #y = x - 2# by plotting points?

1 Answer
Jun 2, 2017

See below.

Explanation:

Since the equation is slope intercept form:

#y=mx+b#

where #m# is the slope and #b# is the y-intercept (where the graph crosses the y-axis), we know that one point is:

#(0,-2)#

Another important point to have is the x-intercept (where the graph crosses the x-axis). To compute it, we set #y# to #0#.

#y=x-2#
#x-2=0#
#x=2#

Another point is:

#(2,0)#

We can plug in other values of #x# and compute #y# to get more ordered pairs to plot. Usually, it's good practice to pick a few positive and negative points.

graph{y=x-2 [-10, 10, -5, 5]}