Question

What is the equation of the line that is perpendicular to y = 2x – 4 and has a y-intercept of –2?

Answer 1

Hi there!

The equation of a line perpendicular to another line always has an opposite and reciprocal slope. For this equation here, the opposite and reciprocal slope of 2x is -1/2x. This is because 2 becomes negative (-2) and it is flipped from the numerator (-1/2). So, our equation so far is y = -1/2x + b. B represents the y-intercept. And since we already know the y-intercept, all we have to do is plug it in!
Here is our finished equation: y = -1/2x - 2.

Hope this helps!! :)