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SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP ME!!!!

How can you look at the equation of two lines and determine if they will be perpendicular?

User Refugio
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1 Answer

5 votes

Answer:

By looking at the slope

Explanation:

Let's use these equation: y = 2x + 3 and y = 2x - 9

You know that those two equations are parallel because the slope is the exact same!

But, if we rewrite those equations to: y = -2x + 3 and y = 1/2x - 9

You can now see that the equations are perpendicular because the slopes are Opposite Reciprocal. The slopes have opposite signs (pos./neg.) and are reciprocal numbers: 2 = 1/2

User Dean Barnes
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