SOLUTION: WRite the equation of the line passing through (4,-25) and (-3, 17). Thank you.

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Question 110759: WRite the equation of the line passing through (4,-25) and (-3, 17).
Thank you.

Found 2 solutions by stanbon, jim_thompson5910:
Answer by stanbon(75887) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
WRite the equation of the line passing through (4,-25) and (-3, 17).
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slope = [-25-17]/[4--3] = -42/7 = -6
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Use y=mx+b and substitute to find "b".
-25 = 6*4 + b
b = -49
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EQUATION:
y = 6x -49
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Cheers,
Stan H.

Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
First lets find the slope through the points (4,-25) and (-3,17)

m=%28y%5B2%5D-y%5B1%5D%29%2F%28x%5B2%5D-x%5B1%5D%29 Start with the slope formula (note: is the first point (4,-25) and is the second point (-3,17))

m=%2817--25%29%2F%28-3-4%29 Plug in y%5B2%5D=17,y%5B1%5D=-25,x%5B2%5D=-3,x%5B1%5D=4 (these are the coordinates of given points)

m=+42%2F-7 Subtract the terms in the numerator 17--25 to get 42. Subtract the terms in the denominator -3-4 to get -7


m=-6 Reduce

So the slope is
m=-6

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Now let's use the point-slope formula to find the equation of the line:



------Point-Slope Formula------
y-y%5B1%5D=m%28x-x%5B1%5D%29 where m is the slope, and is one of the given points

So lets use the Point-Slope Formula to find the equation of the line

y--25=%28-6%29%28x-4%29 Plug in m=-6, x%5B1%5D=4, and y%5B1%5D=-25 (these values are given)


y%2B25=%28-6%29%28x-4%29 Rewrite y--25 as y%2B25


y%2B25=-6x%2B%28-6%29%28-4%29 Distribute -6

y%2B25=-6x%2B24 Multiply -6 and -4 to get 24

y=-6x%2B24-25 Subtract 25 from both sides to isolate y

y=-6x-1 Combine like terms 24 and -25 to get -1
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Answer:


So the equation of the line which goes through the points (4,-25) and (-3,17) is:y=-6x-1

The equation is now in y=mx%2Bb form (which is slope-intercept form) where the slope is m=-6 and the y-intercept is b=-1

Notice if we graph the equation y=-6x-1 and plot the points (4,-25) and (-3,17), we get this: (note: if you need help with graphing, check out this solver)

Graph of y=-6x-1 through the points (4,-25) and (-3,17)

Notice how the two points lie on the line. This graphically verifies our answer.