Question

Consider the line in the coordinate plane that passes through the point (-5, 2) and the origin. Find the slope of a line perpendicular to the line described.

A) -2/5
B) -5/2
C) 1/2
D) 5/2

Answer 1

D) 5/2

Explanation:

When the line goes through the origin, its slope is the ratio of y to x coordinates of points on that line. Thus the given line has slope ...

given slope = 2/-5 = -2/5

The perpendicular line will have a slope that is the opposite of the reciprocal of this value:

perpendicular slope = -1/(-2/5) = 5/2