How do you find the slope and intercept of -4x+2y=12?

1 Answer
Apr 10, 2016

Slope: 2
y-intercept: 6
(x-intercept: -3)

Explanation:

slope
Given an equation in the form Ax+By=C the slope is (-A/B)
So -4x+2y=12 has a slope of -(-4)/2=2

Alternately, we could convert the given form
into "slope-intercept form": y=mx+b with slope m and y-intercept b
color(white)("XXX")-4x+2y=12
color(white)("XXX")rarr 2y=4x+12
color(white)("XXX")rarr y = 2x+6

y-intercept
If we used the "slope-intercept form" (above) we already have the y-intercept: 6;
otherwise we can determine the y-intercept by finding the value of y when x=0 in the given equation: -4x+2y=12
color(white)("XXX")-4xx(0)+2y=12
color(white)("XXX")rarr y=6

x-intercept (note sometimes when "the intercept" is asked for, what is meant is only the y-intercept)
The x-intercept can be determined by find the value of x when y=0 in the given equation: -4x+2y=12
color(white)("XXX")-4x+2xx(0)=12
color(white)("XXX")rarr x=-3