Question

Determine the equation of the straight line that passes through the point (-2, -4)and is perpendicular to the line y +2x=1

Answer 1

If the line is perpendicular to:

`y=-2x+1`

the we know that the slope will be the negative reciproc of the slope so the new slope is:

`m=(1)/(2)`

So the equation is:

`y=(1)/(2)x+b`

So we can replace the coordinate (-2,-4) and solve for b so:

`\begin{gathered} -4=(1)/(2)(-2)+b \\ -4+1=b \\ -3=b \end{gathered}`

So the final equation is:

`y=(1)/(2)x-3`