SOLUTION: Write the linear equation of the line that passes through the points (0,-2) and (5,2) . Write your answer in slope-intercept form.

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Question 1098163: Write the linear equation of the line that passes through the points (0,-2) and (5,2) . Write your answer in slope-intercept form.
Answer by greenestamps(13206) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

The intercept is easy: they give it to you. (0,-2).

So the equation is going to be of the form y+=+mx-2.

All that is left is to find the slope.

You can of course use the formula for slope: m+=+%28y2-y1%29%2F%28x2-x1%29.
But it is so easy -- even with a lot of experience -- to get numbers in the wrong places when using that formula thatI always encourage students to visualize the slope.

The slope tells you how much you go up (positive ) or down (negative) as you walk left to right on the graph. So look at how far you move left to right to get from one of the points to the other, and compare that to how far you go up or down.

In the x direction you are moving 5 to the right, from 0 to 5; in that time your y value is changing from -2 to +2, a change of 4. So the slope is 4/5.

And now you have both the slope and the intercept; the equation of the line is
y+=+%284%2F5%29x+-+2