SOLUTION: I need help I am not sure How to do this problem Find the slope of any line perpendicular to the line through points (0, 5) and (-3, -4). (Rewrite into standard form)

Algebra ->  Algebra  -> Customizable Word Problem Solvers  -> Misc -> SOLUTION: I need help I am not sure How to do this problem Find the slope of any line perpendicular to the line through points (0, 5) and (-3, -4). (Rewrite into standard form)       Log On

Ad: Over 600 Algebra Word Problems at edhelper.com
Ad: Algebrator™ solves your algebra problems and provides step-by-step explanations!
Ad: Algebra Solved!™: algebra software solves algebra homework problems with step-by-step help!

   

Question 90066: I need help I am not sure How to do this problem
Find the slope of any line perpendicular to the line through points (0, 5) and (-3, -4). (Rewrite into standard form)

Answer by jim_thompson5910(21685) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
First lets find the slope through (0, 5) and (-3, -4).
Solved by pluggable solver: Finding the slope
To find the slope going from (0,5) to (-3,-4) we are going to calculate the change in y over the change in x, or the rise over the run. The change is the difference between the two coordinates. So if the y-coordinate of a point goes from 5 to -4, the change in these numbers is -9 (since -4-5=-9). If the x-coordinate changes from 0 to -3, then the change is -3 (since -3-0=-3). So to calculate the slope we use this formula:
Slope:

m=%28change_in_y%29%2F%28change_in_x%29=rise%2Frun where m is the slope

So now we let y%5B2%5D=-4,y%5B1%5D=5,x%5B2%5D=-3,x%5B1%5D=0Now plug these numbers into the slope formula:

m=%28y%5B2%5D-y%5B1%5D%29%2F%28x%5B2%5D-x%5B1%5D%29=%28-4-%285%29%29%2F%28-3-%280%29%29+=+-9%2F-3


So after simplification the slope is m=3



So the perpendicular slope is
m%5Bp%5D=-1%2Fm where m is the original slope and m%5Bp%5D is the perpendicular slope


m%5Bp%5D=-1%2F3 Plug in m=3

So the perpendicular slope is -1%2F3