SLOPE OF A LINE

When you hear the word slopewhat comes to mind?

SLOPE OF A LINESlope of a Line The slope of a line measures the steepness of a line. You have probably heard teachers say rise over run. Rise means how many units you move up or down from point to point. On a graph that would be a change in the y-values.Run means how many units you move left or right from point to point. On a graph that would be a change in the x-values.

c2Positive SlopeSlope-Intercept Form Note that a line with a positive slope increases as you read the graph from left to right. cNegative Slope Note that a line with a negative slope decreases as you read the graph from left to rightSlope-Intercept Form cZero SlopeSlope-Intercept Form Note that a line with a slope of zero is horizontal as you read the graph from left to rightcUndefined Slope When a line is vertical, the slope is undefined. A vertical line cannot be written in Slope-Intercept Form.cSlope Formula Given Two Points You are now going to calculate the slope of a line and compare it to the Slope-Intercept Equations on the four previous slides. Given two points, and , calculate the slope.

cPositive Slope Given Two Points: Note that the slope of the line passing through points A and B is 0.5. Compare this to the first graph by clicking the arrow.

Negative Slope Given Two Points:

Note that the slope of the line passing through points A and B is -3. Compare this to the second graph by clicking the arrow. Positive SlopeSlope-Intercept Form Note that a line with a positive slope increases as you read the graph from left to right.