Question

What is the equation of a line that passes through the point (8, 1) and is perpendicular to the line whose equation is y=−23x+5 ?

Answer 1

Explanation:

The equation of a straight line can be represented in the slope-intercept form, y = mx + c

Where c = intercept

m = slope

The equation of the given line is

y = - 23x+5

Comparing it with the slope intercept equation, slope, m = -23

If a line is perpendicular to another line, the slope of the line is the negative reciprocal of the given line. This means that the slope of the line passing through the point (8, 1) is 1/23

We would determine the intercept, c by substituting m = 1/23, x = 8 and y = 1 into y = mx + c. It becomes

1 = 1/23 × 8 + c

1 = 8/23 + c

c = 1 - 8/23 = 15/23

The equation becomes

y = x/23 + 15/23