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    Equation Line Two Points Notes

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    Saher
    The document describes how to find the equation of a line given two points on the line. It presents a 3 step process: 1) Calculate the slope of the line using the slope formula, 2) Use the slope and one of the points to find the y-intercept, 3) Write the equation in y=mx+b form using the slope and y-intercept. This process is demonstrated on 4 examples, finding the equations of lines passing through different pairs of points.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Equation Line Two Points Notes

    Uploaded by

    Saher
    116 views4 pages
    The document describes how to find the equation of a line given two points on the line. It presents a 3 step process: 1) Calculate the slope of the line using the slope formula, 2) Use the slope and one of the points to find the y-intercept, 3) Write the equation in y=mx+b form using the slope and y-intercept. This process is demonstrated on 4 examples, finding the equations of lines passing through different pairs of points.

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    Equation Line Two Points Notes

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    The document describes how to find the equation of a line given two points on the line. It presents a 3 step process: 1) Calculate the slope of the line using the slope formula, 2) Use the slope and one of the points to find the y-intercept, 3) Write the equation in y=mx+b form using the slope and y-intercept. This process is demonstrated on 4 examples, finding the equations of lines passing through different pairs of points.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    116 views4 pages

    Equation Line Two Points Notes

    Uploaded by

    Saher
    The document describes how to find the equation of a line given two points on the line. It presents a 3 step process: 1) Calculate the slope of the line using the slope formula, 2) Use the slope and one of the points to find the y-intercept, 3) Write the equation in y=mx+b form using the slope and y-intercept. This process is demonstrated on 4 examples, finding the equations of lines passing through different pairs of points.

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    Finding the Equation of a Line Given Two Points

    Most people when asked, What is the equation of a line?, will answer, y = mx + b. This is the
    equation of a line in what is called slope-intercept form where m is the slope and b is the y-
    intercept. So, how do you find the equation of a line? There are several different ways that you can find
    the equation of a line. I find the equation of a line everytime by following the same three steps:

    Step 1: Find the slope of the line.


    Step 2: Use the slope to find the y-intercept.
    Step 3: Use steps 1 and 2 to write the answer.

    I will explain these steps by looking a several examples. Please understand that there are often several
    different ways to complete each math problem, but I have found through the years that students are most
    successful when the do problems the same way each and every time they attempt the problem. If you
    know a different way to find the answer that is great, but I am going to show how to do the problem one
    way and use the same technique everytime I see this problem.

    Example 1: Find the equation of the line passing through the points (1, 2) and (2, 7).

    Step 1: Find the slope of the line.


    To find the slope of the line passing through these two points we need to use the slope
    formula:

    ( )
    ( )

    So the slope of the slope of the line passing through these two points is 3.

    Step 2: Use the slope to find the y-intercept.


    Now that we know the slope of the line is 3 we can plug the slope into the equation and
    we get:
    y = 3x + b
    Next choose one of the two point to plug in for the values of x and y. It does not matter
    which one of the two points you choose because you should get the same answer in either
    case. I generally just choose the first point listed so I dont have to worry about which
    one I should choose.

    (1, 2) 2 = 3(1) + b Multiply to simplify the problem.

    2 = 3 + b Solve for b and you will have the y-intercept.

    b=1

    Finding the Equation of a Line Given Two Points Notes Page 1 of 4


    Step 3: Write the answer.
    Using the slope of 3 and the y-intercept of 1, the answer is:

    y = 3x + 1
    Example 2: Find the equation of the line passing through the points (2, 5) and (4, 3).

    Step 1: Find the slope of the line.


    To find the slope of the line passing through these two points we need to use the slope
    formula:

    ( )

    So the slope of the slope of the line passing through these two points is 4/3.

    Step 2: Use the slope to find the y-intercept.


    Now that we know the slope of the line is 4/3 we can plug the slope into the equation
    and we get:

    Next choose one of the two point to plug in for the values of x and y. It does not matter
    which one of the two points you choose, you should get the same answer in either case.

    ( ) ( )( ) Multiply to simplify the problem.


    At this point if you are not good with
    fractions, multiply the entire problem by 3
    ( ) (the common denominator) and the fractions
    will go away.

    15 = 8 + 3b Solve for b and you will have the y-intercept.

    Step 3: Write the answer.


    Using the slope of 4/3 and the y-intercept of 7/3, the answer is:

    Finding the Equation of a Line Given Two Points Notes Page 2 of 4


    Example 3: Find the equation of the line passing through the points (5, 2) and (1, 5).

    Step 1: Find the slope of the line.


    To find the slope of the line passing through these two points we need to use the slope
    formula:

    ( )
    ( )

    So the slope of the slope of the line passing through these two points is 7/6.

    Step 2: Use the slope to find the y-intercept.


    Now that we know the slope of the line is 7/6 we can plug the slope into the equation and
    we get:

    Next choose one of the two point to plug in for the values of x and y. It does not matter
    which one of the two points you choose, you should get the same answer in either case.

    ( ) ( )( ) Multiply to simplify the problem.

    Multiply the entire problem by 6 (the


    ( ) common denominator) and the fractions
    will go away.
    Solve for b and you will have the y-
    12 = 35 + 6b
    intercept.

    Step 3: Write the answer.


    Using the slope of 7/6 and the y-intercept of 23/6, the answer is:

    Finding the Equation of a Line Given Two Points Notes Page 3 of 4


    Example 4: Find the equation of the line passing through the points (4, 7) and (3, 2).

    Step 1: Find the slope of the line.


    To find the slope of the line passing through these two points we need to use the slope
    formula:

    ( )

    So the slope of the slope of the line passing through these two points is 5/7.

    Step 2: Use the slope to find the y-intercept.


    Now that we know the slope of the line is 5/7 we can plug the slope into the equation
    and we get:

    Next choose one of the two point to plug in for the values of x and y. It does not matter
    which one of the two points you choose, you should get the same answer in either case.

    ( ) ( )( ) Multiply to simplify the problem.

    Multiply the entire problem by 7 (the


    ( ) common denominator) and the fractions
    will go away.
    Solve for b and you will have the y-
    49 = 20 + 7b
    intercept.

    Step 3: Write the answer.


    Using the slope of 5/7and the y-intercept of 29/7, the answer is:

    Finding the Equation of a Line Given Two Points Notes Page 4 of 4

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