Question

Find the slope between the ordered pairs (1,-6) and (-4,11)

Answer 1

-17/5 is we are finding the slope slope of a line containing points:

(1,-6) and (-4,11).

Explanation:

Line them up and subtract vertically, then put 2nd difference over first difference.

So you can do it like route 1 or 2 listed below:

Route 1)

( 1 , -6)

- (-4 , 11)

------------

Route 2)

(-4 , 11)

- (1 , -6)

-------------

Let's do Route 1 first:

( 1 , -6)

-(-4 , 11)

------------

5 -17

So the slope is -17/5.

Route 2:

(-4 , 11)

-( 1 ,-6)

------------

-5 17

So the slope is 17/-5 or -17/5 which is what we got doing it route 1 way.

So it doesn't matter which point you put on top.

You could also use this formula directly which is what we did without really stating it:

`(y_2-y_1)/(x_2-x_1)` or
`(y_1-y_2)/(x_1-x_2)`.

So using this formula directly, you could do either:

`(11-(-6))/(-4-1)` or
`(-6-11)/(1-(-4))`

So first way gives 17/-5 whereas the second way gives -17/5.

You get the same number either way.