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24 votes
24 votes
What is an equation of the line that passes through the points (4, -2) and (2, 3)?

User Netch
by
3.3k points

1 Answer

18 votes
18 votes

Explanation:

For this problem, you'll need two formulas:

Slope: y1 - y2/x1 - x2

Point Slope: y - y1 = m(x - x1)

First thing you need to use is the slope formula.

Plugging in your coordinates gives you:


(-2-3)/(4-2) =
(-5)/(-2)

You can simplify this by getting rid of the negatives since two negatives make a positive.

Now to use the point slope formula.

For this formula, the slope we just found,
(5)/(2), replaces the m, and for the x1 and y1, you use one of the original points(either (4,-2) or (2,3)).

I'll be using the point (2,3). Now plug everything in:


y-3=(5)/(2) (x-2)

First thing you should do is distribute the
(5)/(2):


y-3=(5)/(2) x-5

Next thing to do is get the y by itself by adding 3 to both sides, which gives you your answer of:


y=(5)/(2) x-2

Hope this was helpful, good luck :)

User Davdomin
by
2.7k points
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