SOLUTION: Find the slope of the line that contains the points (-6, -9) and (-10, -8).

Question 1207773: Find the slope of the line that contains the points (-6, -9) and (-10, -8).

Found 3 solutions by MathLover1, greenestamps, math_tutor2020:
Answer by MathLover1(20849)   (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!

the slope of the line that contains the points (,) and (, ) is:

Answer by greenestamps(13200)   (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!

You can blindly plug numbers into a formula to find the slope. If you plug the right numbers in the right places, you will get the right answer.

But plugging numbers into a formula doesn't give you any understanding of the concept of slope.

It's far too easy to get the wrong numbers in the wrong places and end up with the wrong answer. It's also possible, if you do it just right, to put the wrong numbers in the wrong places and get the right answer....

So my recommendation, assuming you want to understand what you are doing, is as follows.

First, draw at least a rough sketch of the two points and the line containing them, to see if an answer you come up with is reasonable. If the line slopes gently up to the right and your calculation shows a slope of -10, then you know something is wrong.

Next, having the sketch on paper in front of you (or perhaps just in your mind), use the definition of slope as "rise over run" to calculate the slope.

"Rise over run" measures how fast you rise (or fall) as you move left to right. With the given two points, you move from (-10,-8) to (-6,-9). In doing that, your "run" (left to right) is 4, from -10 to -6, and your "rise" is -1, from -8 to -9. So the slope, rise over run, is -1/4.

ANSWER: -1/4

If you calculate the slope that way, you will get the right answer -- and you will gain some understanding of what "slope" means.

Answer by math_tutor2020(3817)   (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!

There are two basic approaches.

One approach is to use the slope formula.
m = (y2-y1)/(x2-x1)
m = (-8-(-9))/(-10-(-6))
m = (-8+9)/(-10+6)
m = 1/(-4)
m = -1/4
Notice we subtract y coordinates up top, and subtract x coordinates down below.
Be sure not to mix up the order of x1 and x2 for instance, or else you might get an erroneous positive result.

Another approach would be to plot the two points.
Start at the left-most point (-10,-8).
Then move down 1, and right 4 to arrive at (-6,-9)
rise = -1 = means go down 1
run = 4 = go right 4
slope = rise/run = -1/4

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