SOLUTION: what an equation of the line that contains the point (3,-1) and is perpendicular to the line whose equation is y = -3x+2

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Question 332692: what an equation of the line that contains the point (3,-1) and is perpendicular to the line whose equation is y = -3x+2
Answer by solver91311(24713) About Me  (Show Source):
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Step 1: Determine the slope of the line represented by the given equation. Since this equation is in slope-intercept form, namely , this is a simple matter of examining the coefficient on .

Step 2: Calculate the negative reciprocal of the slope number you determined in Step 1. This is because perpendicular lines have slopes that are negative reciprocals:



Step 3: Use the point-slope form of an equation of a line to write the desired equation:



where are the coordinates of the given point and is the from Step 2.

Depending on your instructor's or textbook's instructions, you may need to re-arrange your equation to put it into either slope-intercept form:



Or Standard form



John

My calculator said it, I believe it, that settles it