Question

What is the slope of the line passing through the point (4, −2) and perpendicular to the line y = 4x + 2? Write your answer as a fraction.

Answer 1

Perpendicular lines have negative reciprocal slopes, which means that you take the opposite sign and flip the slope of the given linear equation. So...for your example the slope is 4 so the slope of the line perpendicular would be \[-1/4\]. In order to find the equation of the line passing through that point you can use the point-slope form of a linear equation, which is \[(y-y _{1})= m(x-x _{1})\] You would plug -1/4 and the point given into the formula and simplify.