Question

Find the slope between the ordered pairs (1,-6) and (-4,11)

Answer 1

Answer:

-17/5 is we are finding the slope slope of a line containing points:

(1,-6) and (-4,11).

Step-by-step explanation:

Line them up and subtract vertically, then put 2nd difference over first difference.

So you can do it like route 1 or 2 listed below:

Route 1)

 ( 1 ,   -6)

- (-4 ,  11)

------------

Route 2)

 (-4 ,  11)

- (1   ,  -6)

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Let's do Route 1 first:

( 1  ,  -6)

-(-4 ,  11)

------------

5      -17

So the slope is -17/5.

Route 2:

(-4 , 11)

-( 1   ,-6)

------------

-5     17

So the slope is 17/-5 or -17/5 which is what we got doing it route 1 way.

So it doesn't matter which point you put on top.

You could also use this formula directly which is what we did without really stating it:

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

So using this formula directly, you could do either:

$\frac{11-(-6)}{-4-1}$ or $\frac{-6-11}{1-(-4)}$

So first way gives 17/-5 whereas the second way gives -17/5.

You get the same number either way.