What is the slope of the line perpendicular to #y=3x+7#?

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Answer 1 · 2017-06-03T17:40:50

See a solution process below:

The equation in the problem is in slope-intercept form. 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.

#y = color(red)(3)x + color(blue)(7)# has a slope of:

#color(red)(m = 3)#

Let's call the slope of a perpendicular line #m_p#

The formula for #m_p# is:

#m_p = -1/m#

Substituting gives:

#m_p = -1/3#