Question

If a transversal is perpendicular to one of two parallel lines, then it's ________ to the other line. Question 16 options: A) perpendicular B) congruent C) parallel D) supplementary

Answer 1

Answer: Perpendicular.

Step-by-step explanation:

Suppose that you have two perpendicular lines:

Remember that a line is something like:

y = a*x +b

and two lines are parallel if they have the same slope (a) but a different y-intercept(b)

Then our lines can be:

y1 = a*x + b1

y2 = a*x + b2.

Now, if we have a line:

y = a*x + b

Then a perpendicular line will have a slope equal to -(1/a):

yp = (-1/a)*x + c

So this only depends on the slope, and we know that our two parallel lines have the same slope. So if we construct a transversal line that is perpendicular to one of our lines, it also must be perpendicular to the other line.