How do you find the slope of a line?

Question

anonymous · Answer

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whpalmer4 · Answer

pick two points.  the slope is the distance that the line goes up or down over the distance it goes to the right.  'rise/run' or more typically

$$m = \frac{y_2-y_1}{x_2-x_1}$$where $m$ is slope, and the line goes through points $(x_1,y_1),(x_2,y_2)$

whpalmer4 · Answer

it's easiest if you pick points where the line crosses through an integer value for both x and y.

whpalmer4 · Answer

positive slope means the line goes up as you go to the right.  negative slope means it goes down as you go to the right.  0 slope means it is parallel to the x-axis, and if it is parallel to the y-axis, the slope is undefined.

whpalmer4 · Answer

the bigger the absolute value of the slope, the steeper it is.

anonymous · Answer

once you do a few you will be able to do them with your eyeballs 
as $x$ increases by $1$ unit, what happens to $y$?

whpalmer4 · Answer

it's also useful when graphing.  plot your first point, then go over one unit to the right and add the slope to the current value of y to get your second point.  draw a straight line through your two points and you are done.

anonymous · Answer

ok thank you