SOLUTION: determine the equation of the line passing through the points (-2, 5), (8,-9), and (0,1).

Question 53646: determine the equation of the line passing through the points (-2, 5), (8,-9), and (0,1).
Answer by funmath(2933) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
If you are in aglebra, these points (-2,5),(8,-9),(0,1), don't lie exactly on the same line. Get Some graph paper, plot the points and see for yourself. If your being asked for a linear regression line, let me know and I'll show you that.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Algebraically you can find the equation of the line by taking two points (x1,y1) and (x2,y2) and plugging them into the slope (m) formula:

Let's use (0,1) as (x1,y1) because it's the easiest and it's the y-intercept.
Let's use (8,-9) as (x2,y2), No reason, you can pick either of the remaining points.

Now we have a slope (m=-5/4) and a y intercept (0,b)=(0,1)
Use the slope intercept form: y=mx+b and you get:
y=(-5/4)x+1
If you're only being asked for a close fit, that's probably good enough. But if they want a line that actually goes through all three points. You can check the third point (-2,5)and find out it's not on the same line as the other two.
5=(-5/4)(-2)+1
5=5/2+1
5=7/2
That's not true, so it's not actually on that line.
Like I said though, without actually seeing what you're going over, I can't tell if you're just supposed to get a close fit. If so, this is close. If you're supposed to get a linear regression line, that's a little more complicated, but I can show you that as well.
I hope that helped.
RELATED QUESTIONS
Determine the equation of the line passing through the points (1, 2) and (6, -4). (answered by lynnlo)

write the equation of the line passing through the points (5,-2) and... (answered by jim_thompson5910)

Find the equation of the line passing through the two points. (8, -2) and (5,... (answered by Flake)

Determine the slope of a line passing through the points (2, 9) and (0.66,... (answered by Alan3354)

1. Write the equation of the line passing through the points (0, -4) and (-2, 2. Write... (answered by jim_thompson5910)

Find the equation of the line passing through the points (-1, 4) and (5,... (answered by jim_thompson5910)

What is the slope of the line passing through the points ( 8, 0 ) and ( 9, 6 (answered by tutor_paul)

1. Determine the slope and the y-intercept of the graph of the equation. 12x + y + 5 = (answered by ReadingBoosters)

If the line passing through the points (a, 1) and (14, 5) is parallel to the line... (answered by josgarithmetic)