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Are -3x+4y=8 and -4x+3y=-6 perpendicular, parallel , or neither

User Gnana Guru
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1 Answer

3 votes

Answer: Neither

Not parallel, and not perpendicular either.

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How we can determine that answer:

Let's solve for y in the 1st equation.

-3x+4y = 8

4y = 3x+8

y = (3x+8)/4

y = (3x/4) + (8/4)

y = (3/4)x + 2

Compare this to the slope-intercept form y = mx+b

  • m = 3/4 = slope
  • b = 2 = y intercept

If you solved -4x+3y = -6 for y, then you should get y = (4/3)x - 2. I'll leave the steps for the student to do. The steps will be similar to what's shown above.

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To summarize so far, the slopes of the original equations are 3/4 and 4/3 in that exact order.

The slopes aren't equal, so the lines aren't parallel. Parallel lines occur when the slopes are equal but y intercepts are different. Example: y = 2x+5 and y = 2x+7 are parallel.

The slopes 3/4 and 4/3 do not multiply to -1; this would mean the lines are not perpendicular.

An example pair of perpendicular slopes would be 3/4 and -4/3. Each slope is the negative reciprocal of the other. If one slope is positive, then the other must be negative.

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In conclusion, the final answer is neither

The lines aren't parallel, and they aren't perpendicular either.

Graphing tools like GeoGebra can be helpful to visually confirm the answer.

User Lolesque
by
7.9k points