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1 Lines in the Plane
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What You Should Learn
• Find the slopes of lines.
• Write linear equations given points on lines and
their slopes.
• Use slope-intercept forms of linear equations to
sketch lines.
• Use slope to identify parallel and
perpendicular lines.
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The Slope of a Line
In this section, you will study lines and their equations. The
slope of a nonvertical line represents the number of units
the line rises or falls vertically for each unit of horizontal
change from left to right.
For instance, consider the
two points
(x1, y1) and (x2, y2)
on the line shown in
Figure 1.1.
Figure 1.1
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The Slope of a Line
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Example 1 – Finding the Slope of a Line
Find the slope of the line passing through each pair of
points.
a. (–2, 0) and (3, 1)
b. (–1, 2) and (2, 2)
c. (0, 4) and (1, –1)
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Example 1 – Solution
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Example 1 – Solution cont’d
The graphs of the three lines are shown in Figure 1.2. Note
that the square setting gives the correct “steepness” of the
lines.
(a) (b) (c)
Figure 1.2
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The Slope of a Line
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The Point-Slope Form of the
Equation of a Line
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The Point-Slope Form of the Equation of a Line
This equation in the variables and can be rewritten in the
point-slope form of the equation of a line.
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Example 2 – The Point-Slope Form of the Equation of a Line
Find an equation of the line that passes through the point
(1, –2) and has a slope of 3.
Solution:
y – y1 = m (x – x1) Point-slope form.
y – (– 2) = 3(x – 1) Substitute for y1, m and x1.
y + 2 = 3x – 3 Simplify.
y = 3x – 5 Solve for y.
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Example 2 – Solution cont’d
The line is shown in Figure 1.5.
Figure 1.5
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The Point-Slope Form of the Equation of a Line
The point-slope form can be used to find an equation of a
nonvertical line passing through two points
(x1, y1) and (x2, y2).
First, find the slope of the line.
Then use the point-slope form to obtain the equation
This is sometimes called the two-point form of the
equation of a line. 13
Sketching Graphs of Lines
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Sketching Graphs of Lines
Many problems in coordinate geometry are as follows.
1. Given a graph (or parts of it), find its equation.
2. Given an equation, sketch its graph.
The form that is better suited to graphing linear equations is
the slope-int. form of the equation of a line, y = mx + b.
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Example 4 – Using the Slope-Intercept Form
Determine the slope and y-intercept of each linear
equation. Then describe its graph.
a. x + y = 2 b. y = 2
Solution:
a. Begin by writing the equation in slope-intercept form.
x+y=2 Write original equation.
y=2–x Subtract from each side.
y = –x + 2 Write in slope-intercept form.
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Example 4 – Solution cont’d
From the slope-intercept form of the equation, the slope
is –1 and the y–intercept is (0, 2).
Because the slope is negative, you know that the
graph of the equation is a line that falls one unit for
every unit it moves to the right.
b. By writing the equation y = 2 in slope-intercept form
y = (0)x + 2
you can see that the slope is 0 and the -intercept is
(0, 2).
A zero slope implies that the line is horizontal.
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Sketching Graphs of Lines
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Sketching Graphs of Lines
From the slope-intercept form of the equation of a line, you
can see that a horizontal line (m = 0) has an equation of the
form
y=b Horizontal line
This is consistent with the fact that each point on a
horizontal line through (0,b) has a y-coordinate of b.
Similarly, each point on a vertical line through (a,0) has an
x-coordinate of a So, a vertical line has an equation of the
form
x=a Vertical line
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Sketching Graphs of Lines
This equation cannot be written in slope-intercept form
because the slope of a vertical line is undefined. However,
every line has an equation that can be written in the
general form
Ax + By + C = 0 General form of the equation of a line
where A and B are not both zero.
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Parallel and Perpendicular Lines
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Parallel and Perpendicular Lines
The slope of a line is a convenient tool for determining
whether two lines are parallel or perpendicular.
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Example 6 – Equations of Parallel Lines
Find the slope-intercept form of the equation of the line that
passes through the point (2, –1) and is parallel to the line
2x – 3y = 5.
Solution:
Begin by writing the equation of the given line in
slope – intercept form.
Write original equation.
2x – 3y = 5
–2x + 3y = –5 Multiply by –1
3y = 2x – 5 Add 2x to each side.
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Example 6 – Solution cont’d
y= Write in slope-intercept form.
Therefore, the given line has a slope of
m=
Any line parallel to the given line must also have a slope of
So, the line through (2, –1) has the following equation.
y – y1 = m (x – x1) Point-slope form.
Substitute for y1, m, and x1.
Simplify.
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Example 6 – Solution cont’d
Write in slope-intercept form.
Notice the similarity between the slope–intercept form of
the original equation and the slope–intercept form of the
parallel equation. The graphs of both equations are shown
in Figure 1.8.
Figure 1.8
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Parallel and Perpendicular Lines
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