Co-ordinate Geometry

Gradients

On the coordinate plane, the slant of a line is called the gradient. Gradient is the ratio of the
change in the y-value over the change in the x-value. Given any two points on a line, you can
calculate the gradient of the line by using this formula:

y 2− y 1
Gradient=
x 2−x 1
  

For example: Given two points, P = (0, –1) and Q = (4,1), on the line we can calculate the
gradient of the line.

1−(−1) 2 1
= =
4−0 4 2
    gradient =

Y-intercept

The y-intercept is where the line intercepts (meets) the y-axis.

For example: In the above diagram, the line intercepts the y-axis at (0,–1). Its y-intercept is
equals to –1.
General equation for a straight line

If the equation of a straight line is written in the form y = mx + c, then

 m is the gradient
 c is the y-intercept.

Gradient and y-intercept

The line y = 3x – 2 has gradient 3 and a y-intercept of -2 (as this is where the line crosses the y-
axis).

The line y = 6 – 2x has gradient -2. The y-intercept for this line is 6.

We can write down the value of the gradient and the y-intercept by looking at the equation.

Examples

Equation y = 4x - 2 y = 11 - x y = ⅓x y = -2x - 4
Gradient 4 -1 ⅓ -2
y-intercept -2 11 0 -4

Note: Sometimes you have to rearrange an equation in order to find the gradient and intercept.

For example, the equation 2y = 3x + 4 doesn’t have the form y = mx + c. However, if we divide
the equation by 2 we get y = 1.5x + 2. So the gradient is 1.5 and the y-intercept is 2.

Likewise, the equation 4x + y = 1 can be rearranged to give y = 1 – 4x (by subtracting 4x from

Finding the equation of a straight line

If you are given a straight line graph, it is possible to find its equation by working out the
gradient and reading off the y-intercept.

y 2− y1
gradient =
To work out the gradient, we use the formula x 2 −x1
Example with Negative Gradient

Find the equation of the line below.

Looking at the line we identify the two points, R(–2, 3) and S(0, –1) .

Δy −1−3 −4 2
= =−
Δx 0−(−2 ) 2 1
   gradient = =

The y-intercept of the line is –1. The gradient is –2. The equation of the line is:
    y = –2x – 1

Example:
10
Find the equation of the line 8
shown here. 6
4
The line passes through the points 2
(0, 4) and (1, 1). 0
-2 -1 -2 0 1 2 3 4
1−4 -4
gradient = =−3 -6
1−0
-8
-10
As the y-intercept is 4, the equation of the line must be y = -3x + 4.

Example

Find the equation of the line passing through (3, 1) and (6, 3).

3-1 2
gradient = =
So the gradient is 6-3 3

The equation is in the form y = ⅔x + c.

To find c we substitute one of the co-ordinate values in the equation above

Substituting x = 3 and y =1 we have 1 = ⅔(3) + c

Which gives c = -1
2
As the equation of a straight line is y = mx + c, the equation of this line is
y= 3 x −1

Example: Solve, by drawing graphs, the simultaneous equations

x + 3y = 6

2x - y = 5

Line 1: x + 3y = 6

To find where the line crosses the y-axis we cover up x and solve the resulting equation, i.e.

3y = 6 which gives y = 2
10
For the x-intercept( when y = 0), we cover up y, to
obtain x = 6.
5
The line crosses the y axis at 2 and the x-axis at 6.

Line 2: 2x – y = 5 0
y-intercept: cover up the x term. We get -2 0 2 4 6
-5
-y = 5 or y = -5

y-intercept: cover up y to get -10

So this line crosses the y axis at -5 and the x-axis at 2.5.

To solve, we look to see where the lines cross – they intersect at x = 3 and y = 1.

Gradients Of Parallel Lines

In coordinate geometry, two lines are parallel if their gradients (m) are equal.

So, the lines y = 4x -1 and y = 4x + 5 are parallel (as they both have gradient 4).

1 1
The line y= x - 1 is parallel to the line y= x + 1 as their gradients are both the same.
2 2

Example: Find the equation of the line parallel to y = 3x + 8 which passes through (1, -2).

To find the equation of the line, we need the gradient and the y-intercept.

As the line is parallel to the line y = 3x + 8, the gradient must be 3.

So the equation of the line must be y = 3x + c.

To find the value of the y-intercept, c, we use the coordinates of the point that it passes through.

Putting x = 1, y = -2 into the equation y = 3x + c gives,

-2 = 3 × 1 + c
 -2 = 3 + c

c = -5

So the equation is y = 3x – 5.

 Gradients of Perpendicular Lines

In the coordinate plane, two lines are perpendicular if the product of their gradients (m) is –1.

1
For example: The line y= x - 1 is perpendicular to the line y = –2x – 1. The product of the two
2
1
gradients is x -2 = -1
2

Midpoint Formula

Some coordinate geometry questions may require you to find the midpoint of line segments in
the coordinate plane. To find a point that is halfway between two given points, get the average of
the x-values and the average of the y-values.

The midpoint between the two points (x1,y1) and (x2,y2) is

 
Distance Formula

In the coordinate plane, you can use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the distance between any
two points.

The distance between the two points (x1,y1) and (x2,y2) is

For example: To find the distance between A(1,1) and B(3,4), we form a right angled triangle
with AB as the hypotenuse. The length of AC= 3 – 1 = 2. The length of BC = 4 – 1 = 3.
Applying Pythagorean Theorem: AB2 = 22 + 32
   AB2 = 13
   AB = 3.605