Answer:
The slope is 0.036 (to the nearest thousandth)
Explanation:
We need to determine by how much both x and y change as we go from (-44.85,5.3) to (4.85,3.5). It might help to write out what we have here:
4.85
- ( -44.85)
-----------------
49.7 This is the increase in x. Note that adding 49.7 to the original -44.85 results in 4.85, as we expect. Meanwhile, y decreases from 5.3 to 3.5, a decrease of 1.8. Thus, the slope of the line passing thru (-44.85,5.3) and (4.85,3.5) is:
m = rise / run = -1.8 / 49.7 = 0.0362 (to the nearest 10 thousandth), or 0.036 (to the nearest thousandth), or 0.04 (to the nearest hundredth).