Question

What is the equation of the line that passes through the points (-2,-1) and (6,1)?

Answer 1

To find the equation of the line in slope-intercept form, we need to start with the slope.

`m = (y_2-y_1)/(x_2-x_1)\\m = (1+1)/(6+2)\\m = \frac28\\m = \frac14`

Now that we have the slope, let's solve for b. To do this, we solve for b using the unfinished equation where x and y equal a given point.

y = mx + b
1 = 1/4(6) + b
1 = 1.5 + b
1 - 1.5 = 1.5 - 1.5 + b
-0.5 = b

So:

y = 1/4x - 0.5