80.6k views
5 votes
write an equation of a line that passes through the point (-3,-2) and is perpendicular to the line x+4y=12

User Dayzza
by
7.2k points

1 Answer

1 vote

The answer is, x + 4y = 12 is y = 4x + 10.

Here is why:

To find the equation of a line that passes through the point (-3,-2) and is perpendicular to the line x+4y=12, we need to determine the slope of the given line and then find the negative reciprocal of that slope.

First, let's rewrite the given equation in slope-intercept form (y = mx + b), where m is the slope and b is the y-intercept.

x + 4y = 12

To isolate y, subtract x from both sides:

4y = -x + 12

Divide both sides by 4 to solve for y:

y = (-1/4)x + 3

The slope of this line is -1/4.

Since we want a line that is perpendicular to this line, we need to find the negative reciprocal of the slope.

The negative reciprocal of -1/4 is 4/1 or simply 4.

Now that we have the slope of the line we want, and we know it passes through the point (-3,-2), we can use the point-slope form of a linear equation.

y - y1 = m(x - x1)

where (x1, y1) is the given point and m is the slope.

Substituting the values, we have:

y - (-2) = 4(x - (-3))

Simplifying:

y + 2 = 4(x + 3)

Expanding the equation:

y + 2 = 4x + 12

Subtracting 2 from both sides to isolate y:

y = 4x + 10

Therefore, the equation of the line that passes through the point (-3,-2) and is perpendicular to the line x + 4y = 12 is y = 4x + 10.

User Tristian
by
7.0k points