12 MATHEMATICS The point is that the coefficients of x and y in a straight-line equation may be any real numbers. The special case here is an equa- tion where the coeflicient of x is the real number zero. In general. viewed as an equation in x and y: y =a constant is a straight line, parallel to the 2 axis. ‘As we might now expect, a line parallel to the y axis will have an equation of the form a =aconstant Ts (esr FIG. 1-4 Consider the problem of finding the equation of the line through (5,2) and (5, 12). Applying the two-point method: y=2_ 12-2 2-5 5-5 This leads to The zero in the slope expression tells us that this is a line of infinite slope; that is, it is a vertical line. A glance at the co-ordinates (5, 2) and (5, 12) shows that the particular vertical line at hand is the one on which the z co-ordinate of all points is 5. Its equation is r=5 Slope ratios with zero numerator lead to an equation of the form t Google INIVERSITY OF