SKETCHING A LINEAR EQUATION

Sketch the graph of the given equation: 2x - y = 3

STEP 1: SOLVE THE EQUATION TO GET y

2x - y = 3 Equation

-y = -2x + 3 Transpose like terms

− y 2 x +3 Divide both sides by -1, to make -y

= positive
−1 −1
y = 2x - 3 Final FORMULA of SLOPE

y 2− y 1
STEP 2: CALCULATE THE COORDINATES FORMULA: m=
x 2−x 1
-Think of values of x-coordinate, that starts at negative,
then skip count, in the example below we skip count 1 Δy
formula may sometimes be written as m= the
value Δx
-Minimum of 5 values symbol Δ meaning change
-After placing the values of x, substitute the values on the
y equation

x y=2 x−3 (x , y )
-1 y=2(−1)−3 (−1 ,−5)
y=−5
0 y=2(0)−3 (0 ,−3)
y=−3 1.) Find the slope of the line through the points (3,7) and
(5,19)
1 y=2(1)−3 (1 ,−1) (x 1 , y 1 ) = (3 , 7) (x 2 , y 2 ) = (5 , 19)
y=−1 y 2− y 1 19−7 12
m= → m= → m= =6
2
x 2−x 1 5−3 2
y=2(2)−3 (2 , 1) This slope is positive, because 6 is a positive number
y=1
2.) Find the slope of the line that passes through the point (-
3 y=2(3)−3 (3 , 3) 2,-2) and (4,1)
y=3 (x 1 , y 1 ) = (−2 ,−2) (x 2 , y 2 ) = (4 , 1)
y 2− y 1 1−(−2) 3 1
m= → m= →m= =
STEP 3: PLOT THE COORDINATES x 2−x 1 4−(−2) 6 2
This slope is positive

3.) Find the slope of the line that goes through the points (-
5,3) and (2,1)
(x 1 , y 1 ) = (−5 , 3) (x 2 , y 2 ) = (2 , 1)
y 2− y 1 1−3 −2
m= → m= →m=
x 2−x 1 2−(−5) 7
This slope is negative

4.) Find the slope of the Line that passes through (3,5) and (-
1,4)
(x 1 , y 1 ) = (3 , 5) (x 2 , y 2 ) = (−1 , 4)
SLOPES y 2− y 1 4−5 −1 1
m= → m= →m= =
x 2−x 1 −1−3 −4 4
SLOPE is a measure of steepness. It is sometimes This slope is positive
referred to as the “rate of change” between 2 points.
The letter “m” is always used to represent slope
 DETERMINING SLOPE USING GRAPH CREATING A GRAPH

- To determine a slope of a line with a graph, start with the Draw a line through the point (2,0) that has a slope of 3,
lower point (0,1) and count how much you rise (vertical) find the other point.
and then how much you run(horizontal) to get to the
other point (4,1).
- In this case, we rise 3 points UPWARDS (positive) and run
6 points to the RIGHT (positive)

- Graph the given ordered pair (2,0)

- From (2,0), apply rise over run. (Write 3 as a
rise 3 1 fraction)
= = rise 3
run 6 2 = using this, we rise upwards by 3 points
This is called the Triangle Method. The slope is positive run 1
since the line is increasing and then run to the right by 1 point.
- Plot a point at the location (3,3)
DETERMINE THE SLOPE OF THE LINE SHOWN - Draw a straight line through the points

FINDING THE SLOPE WITH VARIABLES

The slope of a line that goes through the points (r, 6) and
- (4, 2) is 4. Find r.
-
-
-
Formula
-
-
-
-
- Substitute variables with the given
-
- Write 4 as a fraction, and combine
- like terms, (2-6)
- Find points on the graph (1,0) & (0,2)
- Use the 2 of them to apply rise over run
- RUN: -1, because we moved 1 point to the LEFT(negative)
- RISE: 2, because we moved 2 points UP(positive) cross multiply,
4(4-r)= 16 - 4r
1(-4)= -4
The slope is negative
−4=16 – 4 r

4 r=4+16 Transpose and combine like terms,

What is the slope of a Horizontal line? 4 r=20 (4+6)
A horizontal line does not RISE, meaning the slope is
zero. ALL HORIZONTAL LINES HAVE A SLOPE OF 0. Divide by 4 to remove the 4 from
4 r =20
4r
What is the slope of a Vertical line? 4
A vertical line does not RUN, meaning the slope is
undefined. ALL VERTICAL LINES HAVE AN UNDEFINED r =5 FINAL
SLOPE.