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What is an equation of the line that is perpendicular to the line whose equation is y=3/5x -2 and that passes through the point (3,-6)?

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Final answer:

The equation of a line perpendicular to y = 3/5x - 2 that passes through the point (3, -6) is y = (-5/3)x - 1.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the equation of a line that is perpendicular to another line and passes through a given point, we first need to understand the concept of slopes of perpendicular lines. The slope of the given line, y = 3/5x - 2, is 3/5. Perpendicular lines have slopes that are negative reciprocals of each other. Therefore, the slope of the line we want to find is -5/3 (the negative reciprocal of 3/5).

Next, we use the point-slope form of a line, which is y - y1 = m(x - x1), where (x1, y1) is the point the line passes through and m is the slope of the line. For our line, the point is (3, -6) and the slope is -5/3. Plugging these values into the point-slope form, we get:

y - (-6) = (-5/3)(x - 3)

Simplifying this, we get:

y + 6 = (-5/3)x + 5

Subtracing 6 from both sides to get y alone gives us the final equation:

y = (-5/3)x - 1

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