Question

What is the slope of the line passing through the points (−3, 4) and (2, −1) ?

Answer 1

Hey there!

You can find the slope by using this equation:

$\frac{y_2-y_1}{x_2-x_1}$

It doesn't matter what order you use the points in as long as the x's and y's are in the right place. 

$y_2=-1 \\ y_1=4 \\ x_2=2 \\ x_1=-3$

Just plug your numbers into the equation and solve. 

$\frac{-1-4}{2-(-3)}$
$\frac{-5}{5}$
$-1$

The slope is –1. 

Hope this helped you out! :-)

Answer 2

Let be the points A(-3;4) and B(2;-1) and a the slope.
To find the slope using the coordinates of 2 points, we apply the formula:
a = Δy / Δx

Δy represents the subtraction of the the y coordinates of the 2 points (in here yB - yA) and Δx the subtraction of the x coordinates of the 2 points (in here xB - xA).

So:
a = Δy / Δx
= (yB - yA) / (xB - xA)
= (-1 - 4) / ( 2 - (-3) )
= -5 / 5
= -1

So the slope of the line passing through the points (-3;4) and (2;-1) is a= -1

Hope this helps! :)