Question

the equation of a line that passes through (-2,2) and is perpendicular to y= -1/2 +5

Answer 1

Hiya Peadchcat.

Problem:
the equation of a line that passes through (-2,2) and is perpendicular to y= -1/2 +5

I would approach this by breaking it down into steps.
Two lines that are perpendicular, hmm. When their slopes are multiplied, you get -1.
So the line that is given has a slope of -1/2.
So the slope of the unknown line will be 2.

OK, so the equation so far will be: y = 2x + b
And "b" would stand for the y-intercept.

So now I can plug in the x- and y-values known to fall on the second line:
2 = 2(-2) + b
Then I would solve.
2 = -4 + b
b = 2

So the equation is y = 2x + b.
And I can check: yup, it has a slope of 2, so it'll be perpendicular to the first line, and the point (-2,2) makes the equation true.

Done!

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

I meant "Peachcat"! :-)