LESSON: SLOPE OF A LINE

Definition: Slope of a Line is the steepness of a line.

It is the ratio of the change in y over the change in x or simply the rise over run.
In symbols,
rise change ∈ y y 2− y 1
m= = =
run change∈ x x 2−x 1

TYPE/DIRECTION EXAMPLE OF
TYPE OF SLOPE GRAPH
OF THE LINE EQUATION

y=x +3
POSITIVE Diagonal/Increasing 1
y= x−5
2

y=−3 x + 4
NEGATIVE Diagonal/Decreasing −3
y= x−1
4

y=2
ZERO Horizontal −1
y=
2

x=3
UNDEFINED Vertical −1
x=
3

TO COMPUTE FOR THE SLOPE GIVEN TWO POINTS OF A LINE, USE THE FORMULA
y 2− y 1
m=
x 2−x 1

Where: m=slope, y 2∧ y 1 are the y coordinates of the 2nd ∧first ordered pairsrespectively .
x 2∧x 1 are the x coordinates of the 2 nd∧first ordered pairs respectively .

Examples:
1. P1(2, 5) and P2(-3, 6) 3. P1(3, 2) and P2(3, 6)
y 2− y 1 6−5 −1 y 2− y 1 6−2 4
m= = = negative slope m= = = undefined slope
x 2−x 1 −3−2 5 x 2−x 1 3−3 0
2. P1(0, 3) and P2(3, 6) 4. P1(0, 5) and P2(3, 5)
y 2− y 1 6−3 y 2− y 1 5−5 0
m= = =3 positive slope m= = = zero slope
x 2−x 1 3−0 x 2−x 1 3−0 3