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.
They are equal. When the negative sign is inside the box the absolute value is positive, when the negative sign is outside the box THEN it is negative.
