SOLUTION: 1. Two points, as we know, determine a line segment. To compute the slope of the line, we can take the points in either order. Explain WHY this is so. Give an example to help

Question 14313: 1. Two points, as we know, determine a line segment. To compute the
slope of the line, we can take the points in either order. Explain WHY
this is so. Give an example to help explain.

Answer by venugopalramana(3286) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
If the points are taken as P with coordinates (p,q) and A with coordinates (a,b)
then the slope of the line PA is given by the formula
Difference in Y coordinates / Difference in X coordinates
= (b-q)/(a-p)...It does not matter for this purpose whether we take the coordinates of A first or those of P first as long as we take the same order for calculating the difference of both Y and X cordinates of the 2 points.It is
easy to see that
Slope of PA = (b-q)/(a-p) = (-(q-b))/(-(p-a))= (q-b)/(a-p)= Slope of AP
Viewing it from the physical sence , slope of a line is the Tangent of the angle the line makes with X axis in the positive (anticlockwise)direction. The line afterall makes the same angle with X axis , whether we look at it as PA or AP and hence its tangent which is the slope of the line is also same whichever way we take the line segment.
RELATED QUESTIONS
compute the slope of the line segment connecting the two points.interpret the meaning of... (answered by josgarithmetic)

Hello tutor, This one question on my online homework assignment has been puzzling me for (answered by lwsshak3)

which of the following is true? a) A line segment is the part of the line between two... (answered by jim_thompson5910)

Hello, First off thank you in advance for helping me. My teacher asked me to take this (answered by richard1234)

how to compute the slope of the line segment determined by the pair of points(8,3) and... (answered by jim_thompson5910)

I'm trying to convert GPA into points (as part of an admissions portfolio). If an... (answered by Earlsdon)

can a line segment have the same amount of points as a line???... (answered by MathLover1)

two colum proof A line segment has three points P,Q,R (in that order on the line) (answered by Sanjana01)

how can we find the slope of two perpendicular... (answered by rchill)