Question

what is the equation in slope intercept form of the line that crosses the x-axis at -2 and is perpendicular to the line represented by y equals negative 1/2 x + 3

Answer 1

y = -2x - 4

Explanation:

So we have the x intercept and a line perpendicular to the one we are trying to find.

Perpendicular deals with the slope. Perpendicular slopes are negative reciprocals of each other, or in other words, if the slope is m the negative reciprocal is -1/m.

the slope of the perpendicular line is 1/2 so that means the negative reciprocal is -2.

x intercept is when y=0, so the point is (-2, 0). So that means the equation to make this point with the slope of -2 will look like this

y = mx + b

0 = -2*-2 + b

-4 = b

Now to get into the line we just plug in m and b into y = mx + b

y = mx + b

y = -2x - 4

And to check if you plug in -4 you'll get y = 0