How do you solve the system by graphing #y = -1/2x + 1# and #y = 1/4x - 2#?

1 Answer
Jul 7, 2018

See answer below

Explanation:

Given: #y = -1/2 x + 1 " and " y = 1/4 x - 2#

When the line is in the form #y = mx + b#, #" "b# is the #y#-intercept which is the point #(0, b)#

  1. Graphing #y = -1/2 x + 1# by

a. first placing a point at #(0, 1)#.

b. The slope = #m = -1/2# means go down one #y# space and over to the right 2 spaces and place another point. Since
#-1/2 = (-1)/2 = 1/(-2),# you can also go up one #y# and to the left (negative) 2 #x# spaces.

  1. Graphing #y = 1/4 x - 2# by

a. first placing a pint at #(0, -2)#.

b. The slope = 1/4 which means go up one #y# space and over to the right 4 #x# spaces and place another point.

The intersection point is the solution to the system of equations.

The solution is #(4, -1)#. This is the point that both lines share.

graph{(y+1/2x - 1)(y-1/4x+2)=0 [-10, 10, -5, 5]}