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What is the slope of a line perpendicular to a line that contains the points (-5, 4) and (-2, 4)?

Select the best answer from the choices provided.
A.
0
B.
no slope
C.
8/3
D.
-3/8

User Davian
by
4.9k points

1 Answer

3 votes
Answer: B. No slope


Explanation: The slope of a perpendicular line will always be the negative reciprocal of the slope of the given line. That means that you first have to find the slope of the given line by using the two points on that line:

Point 1: (-5, 4)
Point 2: (-2, 4)
Slope=(y2-y1)/(x2-x1)
Slope=(4-4)/((-2)-(-5))
Slope=0/3

If the slope of the initial line is 0/3 and the slope of its perpendicular line is the negative reciprocal of that slope, that means the slope of the perpendicular line will be -3/0 which is undefined because you can’t divide -3 by 0.

Therefore, the slope of the perpendicular line is undefined, or in other words, there isn’t an exact slope.



Hope that helps シ
User Johannes P
by
4.1k points