Question

Draw a line representing the "rise" and a line representing the "run" of the line. State the slope of the line in simplest form.

Answer 1

Line of "rise": (0, 3) to (0, 0) ==> -3 units

Line of "run": (0, 0) to (1, 0) ==> 1 unit

Slope: rise/run ==> -3/1

Explanation:

Slope is basically a ratio of changes in the y-value to changes in the x-value. What I mean by that is the slope shows how much the line goes up or down compared to how much the line goes left or right. In this case, the line goes right one unit for every 3 units the line goes down. Taking a look at the portion of the line in Quadrant 1 (top right quadrant), the line starts at (0, 3) and ends at (1, 0). I guess that's another way to figure out slope, too: line up the two coordinates (the leftmost one above the rightmost one), and add or subtract.

Like this:

(0, 3)

(1, 0)

+1 -3

Since the formula for slope is rise/run (y-difference/x-difference), the slope is therefore -3/+1, or simply -3/1. (You don't include plus signs.)