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What is the slope of a line perpendicular to the line whose equation is 3x-6y=144 Fully simplify your answer.

User Urja Pawar
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1 Answer

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Answer:

The slope of the perpendicular line is -2.

Explanation:

A perpendicular line has a slope that is the negative inverse of the slope of the reference line. The reference line in this problem is 3x-6y=144.

Let's rearrange this equation to standard slope-intercept form of y=mx+b, where m is the slope and b is the y-intercept (the valuue of y when x=0).

3x-6y=144

-6y=144-3x

-6y=-3x + 144

y = (3/6)x + (144/-6)

y = (1/2)x - 24

This line has a slope of (1/2) and a y-intercept of -24. A line perpendicular to this will have a slope that is the negative inverse of (1/2). This would be -2. The new line will take form:

y = -2x + b

We are not given b, and there is not enough information to calculate one, so let's assume a value of -24, so that it intersects the original line at (0, -24). See the attached graph.

What is the slope of a line perpendicular to the line whose equation is 3x-6y=144 Fully-example-1
User Matt Mackay
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