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What is an equation of the line that passes through the point (4,1) and is perpendicular to the line 2x-y= 4?

User Thindil
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5 votes

Answer:

Point-Slope Form: y - 1 = -1/2(x - 4) or Standard Form: y = -1/2x + 3

Explanation:

For a line to be perpendicular, you take the negative inverse of the slope of 2x - y = 4. To do this, rearrange the y to one side and you get y = 2x - 4. The slope of the line is 2. So, taking the negative inverse would be -1/m (with m being slope of the the equation given in the problem. This would give you -1/2.

Using point slope formula, y - y1 = m(x - x1), you can plug in the point given, (4,1) and the slope you found to get y - 1 = -1/2(x - 4). For standard form, isolating the y gets you y = -1/2x + 3.

You can check your answer by using Desmos by putting in the line 2x - y = 4, the point (4,1), and the equation you got as your answer. You will see that the equation is perpendicular to 2x - y = 4 and passes through point (4,1). Your equation of the line is y - 1 = -1/2(x - 4) or y = -1/2x + 3

User Plx
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