Final answer:
The gradient of the straight line with the equation 5x + 2y = 7 is -5/2, which is found by rearranging the equation to the slope-intercept form and identifying the coefficient of x.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the gradient of the straight line with the equation 5x + 2y = 7, we need to rewrite the equation in the slope-intercept form y = mx + b, where m represents the slope, and b represents the y-intercept. First, we solve for y:
- 5x + 2y = 7
- 2y = -5x + 7
- y = (-5/2)x + 7/2
In this form, it's clear that the slope (gradient) of the line is -5/2. This means that for each increase of 1 on the horizontal axis, there is a decrease of 2.5 on the vertical axis.