105k views
3 votes
How do you know if a line has a negative, positive, zero or undefined slope?

User MrTJ
by
7.7k points

1 Answer

4 votes
Starting with a slope of zero , the line will always be horizontal and majority of the time will only pass through the y axis
In the equation there is no " x"
ex. y=2

For an Undefined Slope the line will always be vertical , going up and down and for majority of the time only coming in contact with the x axis
In this equation there is no " y"
ex. x= 9

For Positive Slope , line should be diagonal if linear and will increase the x and y coordinates , this equation contains both the y and x and passes through both the y and the x axis.. the movement of the positive slope is upward

For Negative Slope, same as positive the line should be diagonal if linear, but now the x and y coordinates should decrease and the movement of the line is downward , the line passes through both the y and the x axis

How to Find Slope

Δy over Δx
the triangle refers to the change in
ex. A (2,-3) B ( 4, -5 )

-3- (-5) / 2-4
2/-2
-1

Since the number is negative then the slope is negative and going downward

I hope the long explanation helped!
User Simon Bruneaud
by
8.2k points