Question

Find the equation of the line that contains the point (4, -2) and is perpendicular to the line y= -2x+5

Answer 1

Answer:

  y +2 = (1/2)(x -4)

Step-by-step explanation:

The given line's equation is in the slope-intercept form ...

  y = mx + b

where m is the slope and b is the y-intercept. Matching your equation to this one, you see that m = -2. That is, the slope of the given line is -2.

The slope of the perpendicular line will be the opposite of the reciprocal of this slope, so will be ...

  -1/(-2) = 1/2

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We can use the desired slope and given point in the point-slope form of the equation of a line:

  y -k = m(x -h) . . . . . . . line with slope m through point (h, k)

Filling in the values we want, m=1/2, (h, k) = (4, -2), gives us the equation ...

  y +2 = (1/2)(x -4) . . . . the equation of your line

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This can be rearranged to any of several other forms

  y = 1/2x -4 . . . . . slope-intercept form

  x -2y = 8 . . . . . . standard form