How do you write the equation for a line containing the points (–4, 1) and (–2, 3)?

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How do you write the equation for a line containing the points (–4, 1) and (–2, 3)?

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Answer 1 · 2014-10-26T06:49:14

The point slope formula is
$(y - y_{1}) = m (x - x_{1})$ $(y - y_1) = m (x - x_1)$
Where m = the slope calculated as $\frac{y_{2} - y_{1}}{x_{2} - x_{1}}$ $(y_2 - y_1)/(x_2 - x_1)$

$(x_{1}, y_{1}) (x_{2}, y_{2})$ $(x_1,y_1) (x_2,y_2)$
(-4 , 1) (-2 , 3)

Solve for the slope
m = $\frac{3 - 1}{- 2 - (- 3)}$ $(3 - 1)/(-2 - (-3))$ = $\frac{2}{1}$ $(2)/1$ = m = 2

$(y - 3) = 2 (x - (- 2))$ $(y - 3) = 2 (x - (-2))$ Plug in known values.

$y - 3 = 2 (x + 2)$ $y - 3 = 2 (x + 2)$ Simplify signs

$y - 3 = 2 x + 4$ $y - 3 = 2x + 4$ Use Distributive property

$y = - 2 x + 4 + 3$ $y = -2x + 4 + 3$ isolate the y variable

$y = - 5 x + 7$ $y = -5x + 7$ Simplify.

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How do you write the equation for a line containing the points (–4, 1) and (–2, 3)?

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