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25 votes
PLSSSSS HELP!!!!!

Write the equation of a line that is perpendicular to the given line and that passes through the given point.
y- 4 = (x+3); (-7,8)

O A. y-8 = -2/5(x-7)
OB. y-8 = -2/5(–7)
O C. y-8 = -2/5(x + 7)
O D.y-8 = -2/5(x +7)

PLSSSSS HELP!!!!! Write the equation of a line that is perpendicular to the given-example-1
User Gview
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1 Answer

17 votes
17 votes

Answer:


\displaystyle y - 8 = -(2)/(5)\, (x + 7) is perpendicular to
\displaystyle y - 4 = (5)/(2) \, (x + 3) and goes through the point
(-7,\, 8).

Explanation:

Consider a line that has a slope of
m and goes through the point
(x_(0),\, y_(0)). The point-slope equation of this line would be:


y - y_(0) = m\, (x - x_(0)).

The equation of "the given line" in this question is in the point-slope form. Compare the equation of this given line to
y - y_(0) = m\, (x - x_(0)).
m = (5/2).

The coefficient of
x would be
m = (5 / 2). In other words, the slope of this given line would be
(5/2).

If two lines are perpendicular to one another, the product of their slopes would be
(-1).

Since the slope of the given line is
(5 / 2), the slope of a line perpendicular to this line would be:


\displaystyle (-1)/(5 / 2) = -(2)/(5).

The question requested that this line should go through the point
(-7,\, 8). Since the slope of that line is found to be
(-2/5), the point-slope equation of that line would be:


\displaystyle y - 8 = -(2)/(5)\, (x - (-7)).

Simplify this equation to get:


\displaystyle y - 8 = -(2)/(5)\, (x + 7).

User Psyill
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