Question 1160919
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I always encourage students to practice calculating slope in a simple example like this by understanding and using the definition of slope -- instead of plugging numbers into a formula.<br>
For simplicity, slope can be viewed as the ratio between how far you move up or down to how far you move to the right.<br>
(7,-4) is to the right of (5,3), so consider moving (to the right) from (5,3) to (7,-4).  In doing that, you move 2 to the right (+2), and you move 7 down (-7).  So the slope is -7/2.<br>