Question

I need help with algebra

Answer 1

To find the equation of a line using two coordinate points, use the slope intercept formula, (y2-y1)/(x2-x1). Using this formula, plug in your values from the two coordinates (-5, -5) and (1, -3). This would look like this:
(-3-(-5))/(1-(-5))
When simplified, you should get 2/6 or 1/3 as your slope or m value. Now that you have your slope, now use your slope intercept equation y=mx+b and plug in your known values. Since you know the m value is 1/3 and you can use one of your set of points to plug into the x and y values, you can plug in these values and solve for b (the coordinate you use doesn't matter but I'm just using the (1,-3)). This would look like this:
-3=1/3(1)+b

When you simplify, you should get -3=1/3+b and when you subtract both sides by 1/3, you should get b=-10/3.

Now that you have your m and b values, you can conclude that your equation for the line would be y=1/3x-10/3