Explanation: What we know: - Equation for line S: y=-6x+2 - Line T is perpendicular to line S - Line T passes through the point (-6,-7)
To find the answer, we would need to understand two things, the first being what exactly is going on with the equation: y=-6x+2.
It’s organized in slope-intercept form, which is y=mx+b. Here’s what the variables mean:
Y=the y variable M=the slope X=the x variable B=the y-intercept (the point on the line that crosses the y axis)
Knowing this, we can look at the equation for line S again: y=-6x+2. -6 is the slope of line S and 2 is the y-intercept of line S.
The second thing we need to understand is that the slope of a second line that is perpendicular to the first line is equal to the NEGATIVE RECIPROCAL of the slope of the first line.
Reciprocal: the “flip” of a fraction where the denominator and the numerator switch places
So, for example, let’s say the slope of line A=6. The slope of the line perpendicular to line A would be -1/6.
Let’s try another example: the slope of line B=-4/5. The slope of the line perpendicular to line B would be 5/4 (because two negatives makes a positive)
And here, for your question, the slope of line S=-6. Therefore, the slope of line T would be 1/6.
Awesome! We found the slope, which means so far, the equation of line T looks like this:
y=1/6x+b
All we need now is the y-intercept, which is “b” in the equation y=mx+b.
To do this, we plug in the point that the question provided us, (-6,-7), and solve. We would plug in -7 as the y variable and -6 as the x variable.
y=1/6x+b -7=1/6(-6)+b 1) multiply 1/6 and -6 -7=-1+b 2) add 1 to both sides of the equation to isolate b -6=b
Aha! There we have it, -6 is the y-intercept of line T.
Now, we have completed our equation:
y=1/6x-6
I hope this helps! Please comment if you have any questions.
