SOLUTION: What is the slope of a line perpendicular to the line passing through (-2,6) and (0,10)?

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Question 82873: What is the slope of a line perpendicular to the line passing through (-2,6) and (0,10)?
Answer by jim_thompson5910(35256) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
First lets find the slope of the line going through (-2,6) and (0,10)

Solved by pluggable solver: Finding the slope


Slope of the line through the points (-2, 6) and (0, 10)



m+=+%28y%5B2%5D+-+y%5B1%5D%29%2F%28x%5B2%5D+-+x%5B1%5D%29


m+=+%28y%5B2%5D+-+y%5B1%5D%29%2F%28x%5B2%5D+-+%28x%5B1%5D%29%29


m+=+%2810+-+6%29%2F%280+-+%28-2%29%29


m+=+%2810+-+6%29%2F%280+%2B+2%29


m+=+%284%29%2F%282%29


m+=+2



Answer: Slope is m+=+2




Remember, perpendicular slopes are always the negative reciprocal of each other. In other words we have

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

so plug in the slope we solved for to find the perpendicular slope:

m%5Bp%5D=-1%2F2 Plug in m=2

So the perpendicular slope is -1%2F2