Question

Take west to be the positive direction. The height of a sloped roof above the place where you stand is 12

feet. If you move 3 feet west, the height is 10 feet. What is the slope?

Answer 1

Given:

Take west to be the positive direction. The height of a sloped roof above the place where you stand is 12 feet. If you move 3 feet west, the height is 10 feet.

We need to determine the slope.

Let x denote the standing place.

Let y denote the height.

Writing the given as coordinates, we get;

(0,12) and (3,10)

Slope:

The slope can be determined using the formula,

`m=(y_2-y_1)/(x_2-x_1)`

Substituting the coordinates (0,12) and (3,10), we have;

`m=(10-12)/(3-0)`

`m=(-2)/(3)`

Thus, the slope is
`m=-(2)/(3)`