Linear Equations

Terms Involving Equations

3x - 1 = 2
Left Side Right Side

An equation consists of two algebraic expressions joined by an equal sign.

3x 1 = 2 3x = 3 x=1

1 is a solution or root of the equation

Solve a linear equation 5x - 4 = 7.

Generating Equivalent Equations

An equation can be transformed into an equivalent equation by one or more of the following operations.
Example 1. Simplify an expression by removing grouping symbols and combining like terms. 2. Add (or subtract) the same real number or variable expression on both sides of the equation. 3. Multiply (or divide) on both sides of the equation by the same nonzero quantity. 4. Interchange the two sides of the equation. 3(x - 6) = 6x - x 3x - 18 = 5x 3x - 18 = 5x 3x - 18 - 3x = 5x - 3x -18 = 2x Subtract 3x from both sides of the equation.

-18 = 2x -9 = x
-9 = x x = -9

Divide both sides of the equation by 2.

Text Example
Solve the equation: 2(x - 3) - 17 = 13 - 3(x + 2).
Solution Step 1 Simplify the algebraic expression on each side.
This is the given equation. Use the distributive property. Combine like terms.

2(x - 3) 17 = 13 3(x + 2) 2x 6 17 = 13 3x 6 2x 23 = - 3x + 7

Text Example
Solve the equation: 2(x - 3) - 17 = 13 - 3(x + 2).
Solution Step 2 Collect variable terms on one side and constant terms on the other side. We will collect variable terms on the left by adding 3x to both sides. We will collect the numbers on the right by adding 23 to both sides. 2x 23 + 3x = - 3x + 7 + 3x 5x 23 = 7 5x 23 + 23 = 7 + 23 5x = 30
Add 3x to both sides. Simplify. Add 23 to both sides. Simplify.

Text Example
Solve the equation: 2(x - 3) - 17 = 13 - 3(x + 2).
Solution Step 3 Isolate the variable and solve. We isolate the variable by dividing both sides by 5. 5x = 30 5x/5 = 30/5 x=6

Divide both sides by 5 Simplify.

Text Example
Solve the equation: 2(x - 3) - 17 = 13 - 3(x + 2).
Solution Step 4 Check the proposed solution in the original equation. Substitute 6 for x in the original equation. 2(x - 3) - 17 = 13 - 3(x + 2) ? 2(6 - 3) - 17 = 13 - 3(6 + 2) ? 2(3) - 17 = 13 - 3(8) ? 6 17 = 13 24 -11 = -11 The solution set is {6}.
This is the original equation.
Substitute 6 for x. Simplify inside parentheses. Multiply.

This true statement indicates that 6 is the solution.

COORDINATE PLANE
Y-axis Parts of a plane 1. X-axis 2. Y-axis 3. Origin 4. Quadrants I-IV

QUAD II

QUAD I
Origin ( 0 , 0 )

X-axis

QUAD III

QUAD IV

PLOTTING POINTS
C B Remember when plotting points you always start at the origin. Next you go left (if x-coordinate is negative) or right (if x-coordinate is positive. Then you Plot these y-points go up (if 4 A coordinate is C ((3, -4), B (5, 6), 4,positive) or down (if 5) and D (-7, -5) y-coordinate is negative)

y
Q = ( x2 , y2 )

y2 y1
P = ( x1 , y1 )

x2 x1

SLOPE
Slope is the ratio of the vertical rise to the horizontal run between any two points on a line. Usually referred to as the rise over run. Run is 6 Slope triangle because between two points. we went Notice that the slope Rise is 10 to triangle can be drawn Rise is -10 the because we right two different ways. because we went up went down
The slope in this case is

Run is -6 because we went to the left

10 5 6 3

The slope in this case is

10 5 6 3

Another way

Find the slope of the line between the two points (-4, 8) and (10, -4) If it helps label the points.
X 1 Y1

X2

Y2

Then use the formula X 2 X1 (10 ) (4) Y2 Y1 SUBSTITUTE INTO FORMULA (4) (8)

(10 ) (4) 10 4 14 7 Then Simplify (4) (8) 4 (8) 12 6

X AND Y INTERCEPTS
The x-intercept is the x-coordinate of a point where the graph crosses the x-axis.

The y-intercept is the y-coordinate of a point where the graph crosses the y-axis.
The x-intercept would be 4 and is located at the point (4, 0).

The y-intercept is 3 and is located at the point (0, 3).

Draw a graph of a line passing through the point (1,4) and having a slope -3/2.

5
-3

(1, 4) (3, 1)

10

The Possibilities for a Lines Slope

Positive Slope

Zero Slope

y
m>0

y
m=0

x
Line rises from left to right.

Negative Slope

x
Line is horizontal.

Undefined Slope

y
m<0

y
m is undefined

x
Line falls from left to right. Line is vertical.

Point-Slope Equation

An equation of a

nonvertical line of slope

m that passes through the point

x ,y is 1 1

y y1 m ( x x1 )

6 4 2 6 4 2 2 4 6 0
(0, 3)
(1, 1)

Equation of a Horizontal Line

A horizontal line is given by an equation of the form

y=b

Where b is the y-intercept.

Slope-Intercept form of an Equation of a Line

An equation of a line L with slope m and y-intercept b is

y=mx+b

Th equation of a line L is in general form when it is written:

Ax By C 0
Where A, B, and C are three real numbers and A and B are not both 0.

A linear function is a function of the form

f(x)=mx+b
The graph of a linear function is a line with a slope m and y-intercept b.

Scatter Diagrams
A relation is a correspondence between two sets. If x and y are two elements and a relation exists between x and y, then we say that x corresponds to y or that y depends on x and write x y or we write it as an ordered pair (x,y). y - dependent variable x - independent variable

The first step in finding whether a relation might exist between two variables is to plot the ordered pairs using rectangular coordinates. The resulting graph is called a scatter diagram.

Curve Fitting
Scatter diagrams help us to see the type of relation that exists between two variables.

Bivariate data is data in which two variables are measured on an individual. The response variable is the variable whose value can be explained or determined based upon the value of the predictor variable.

A scatter diagram shows the relationship between two quantitative variables measured on the same individual. Each individual in the data set is represented by a point in the scatter diagram. The predictor variable is plotted on the horizontal axis and the response variable is plotted on the vertical axis.

Two variables that are linearly related are said to be positively associated when above average values of one variable are associated with above average values of the corresponding variable.
That is, two variables are positively associated when the values of the predictor variable increase, the values of the response variable also increase.

Two variables that are linearly related are said to be negatively associated when above average values of one variable are associated with below average values of the corresponding variable.
That is, two variables are negatively associated when the values of the predictor variable increase, the values of the response variable decrease

Properties of the Linear Correlation Coefficient 1. The linear correlation coefficient is always between -1 and 1, inclusive. That is, -1 < r < 1.

2. If r = +1, there is a perfect positive linear relation between the two variables.
3. If r = -1, there is a perfect negative linear relation between the two variables. 4. The closer r is to +1, the stronger the evidence of positive association between the two variables. 5. The closer r is to -1, the stronger the evidence of negative association between the two variables.

Properties of the Linear Correlation Coefficient 6. If r is close to 0, there is evidence of no linear relation between the two variables. Because the linear correlation coefficient is a measure of strength of linear relation, r close to 0 does not imply no relation, just no linear relation. 7. It is a unitless measure of association. So, the unit of measure for x and y plays no role in the interpretation of r.

EXAMPLE Drawing a Scatter Diagram and Computing the Correlation Coefficient For the following data (a) Draw a scatter diagram and comment on the type of relation that appears to exist between x and y. (b) Use technology to compute the linear correlation coefficient.

A linear correlation coefficient that implies a strong positive or negative association that is computed using observational data does not imply causation among the variables.

Distinguishing between Linear and Nonlinear Relations

Linear y=mx+b m>0

Linear y=mx+b m<0

Nonlinear

Nonlinear

The difference between the observed value of y and the predicted value of y is the error or residual. That is

residual = observed - predicted

Compute the residual for the prediction corresponding to x = 5.