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Is 2x + y =5 linear or nonlinear? Please explain

User Auris
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1 Answer

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20 votes

A generic line function is based on this format:


y\text{ = ax + b}

In this case, 2x + y = 5 we have to isolate 'y' to fill the format above:


y\text{ = -2x + 5}

a = -2 and b = 5. So that is a linear function. I will show to you other examples that are not linear:


y=x^2+2x-4^{}
y\text{ = }\log _(10)(x)
y=\sqrt[]{x}

These are not linear functions because they are not in the y = mx + b format! m and b can be any real number. If m is equal to zero, the function will be constant! Otherwise, if b is equal to zero, the function will be linear.

User AMoL Thite
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