How do you write an equation of a line passing through (0,2) and (-5,0)?

1 Answer
May 12, 2017

See a solution process below:

Explanation:

First, we need to determine the slope of the line going through these two points. The slope can be found by using the formula: #m = (color(red)(y_2) - color(blue)(y_1))/(color(red)(x_2) - color(blue)(x_1))#

Where #m# is the slope and (#color(blue)(x_1, y_1)#) and (#color(red)(x_2, y_2)#) are the two points on the line.

Substituting the values from the points in the problem gives:

#m = (color(red)(0) - color(blue)(2))/(color(red)(-5) - color(blue)(0)) = (-2)/-5 = 2/5#

We can now use the slope-intercept formula to write the equation for the line. The slope-intercept form of a linear equation is: #y = color(red)(m)x + color(blue)(b)#

Where #color(red)(m)# is the slope and #color(blue)(b)# is the y-intercept value.

We calculated the slope above. The y-intercept is #(0, 2)#. Substituting into the formula gives:

#y = color(red)(2/5)x + color(blue)(2)#