Question 684159: How do you find an equation of the line having the given slope and containing the given point m = 4/5, (1, -7, please show steps, thanks
Answer by MathLover1(20850)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
given:
point ( ,  )
| Solved by pluggable solver: FIND a line by slope and one point |
What we know about the line whose equation we are trying to find out:
- it goes through point (1, -7)
- it has a slope of 0.8
First, let's draw a diagram of the coordinate system with point (1, -7) plotted with a little blue dot:
Write this down: the formula for the equation, given point  and intercept a, is
 (see a paragraph below explaining why this formula is correct)
Given that a=0.8, and  , we have the equation of the line:
Explanation: Why did we use formula  ? Explanation goes here. We are trying to find equation y=ax+b. The value of slope (a) is already given to us. We need to find b. If a point ( ,  ) lies on the line, it means that it satisfies the equation of the line. So, our equation holds for (, ):  Here, we know a, , and , and do not know b. It is easy to find out:  . So, then, the equation of the line is:  .
Here's the graph:
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