Question #92c95

1 Answer
Oct 17, 2016

Note that the slope of a line is undefined only when the line has the equation x=cx=c, then proceed as usual.

Explanation:

Almost line in the xyxy plane can be expressed as y=mx+by=mx+b where mm is the line's slope and bb is its yy-intercept. The exception is when the slope of the line is undefined, that is, in the case of a vertical line.

A vertical line has an equation of the form x=cx=c for some constant cc. If an inequality has such a line as a boundary, we simply pick whichever side of that line contains points satisfying the inequality and shade that, just as we would with a line that has a defined slope.

For example, here is the graph of x<3x<3:

enter image source here

In a system of inequalities, we just shade as normal for each inequality, and then keep wherever all of the shadings overlap.

If we have {(x > -2), (x <= 2), (y > 2x-1):}

we would graph the three lines generated by equalities (remembering to used dashed lines for > or < and solid for >= or <=), and then keep the portion in which all three shaded areas overlap, giving us this:

enter image source here