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How Do You Find the Slope of a Line from Two Points?

Find the slope of the line passing between the points (0,-2) and (3,4).

Summary

  1. In our first ordered pair, x1 is just 0!
  2. In our first ordered pair, y1 is just -2!
  3. In our second ordered pair, x2 is just 3!
  4. In our second ordered pair, y2 is just 4!
  5. The triangles, or deltas, mean "the change in" or the "difference between"
  6. Slope is just the change in y over change in x

Notes

    1. For (x,y), x is the x-coordinate, and y is the y-coordinate
    1. 0 and 3 are x-coordinates
    2. -2 and 4 are y-coordinates
    1. When labeling ordered pairs we have to keep the subscripts the same
    2. So, x1 will always be with y1 and x2 will always be with y2
    1. When labeling ordered pairs we have to keep the subscripts the same
    2. So, x1 will always be with y1 and x2 will always be with y2
    1. The slope of a line is:
    2. y2 - y1 divided by x2 - x1
    1. y2 - y1 divided by x2 - x1
    1. x1 = 0
    2. x2 = 3
    3. y1 = -2
    4. y2 = 4
    1. The numerator should be 4-(-2)
    1. The denominator should be 3-0
    1. The numerator is 4-(-2)=6
    2. The denominator is 3-0=3