LINES

The gradient or gradient of a line is a number that tells us

how “steep” the line is and which direction it goes. This one
has the
greatest
If you move along gradient
the line from left
to right and are
climbing, it is a
positive gradient.

These are all positive gradients.

The “steeper” the line, the larger
the gradient value.
 We could compute the We compute the
run by looking at the gradient by taking the
difference between the x ratio of how much the
values. line rises (goes up) and
how much the line runs
run (goes over)
rise (x2, y2)

y2 - y1 If we took two points on

the line, we could
(x1, y1) compute the rise by
x2 - x1 looking at the difference
between the y values.
So the gradient or y2  y1
gradient is the rise m This is the
over the run x2  x1 gradient formula
gradient is designated with an m
 This one has
If you move along the greatest
the line from left to absolute value
right and are gradient
descending, it is a
negative gradient.

These are all negative gradients.

The “steeper” the line, the larger
the absolute value of the
gradient. (basically this means if
you ignore the negative, the larger
the number, the steeper the line---
but in the negative gradient
direction).
 y
Let’s figure out 
(2, 4) Choose two

the gradient of 1 points on the line.

this line. We (1, 2)
know it should 2 The rise over the
be a positive x run is 2 over 1
        

number.  (0, 0) which is 2. Let’s


compute it with the

gradient formula.
(-2, -4)

20
m 2
What if we'd chosen two different points on 1 0
the line?

4   4 8
m  2
2   2 4 It doesn't matter which two
points we pick, we'll always get
a constant ratio of 2 for this line.
If we look at any points on this line we see that they all have
a y coordinate of 3 and the x coordinate varies.


y
Let's choose the points (-4, 3) and
(-4, 3) (-1, 3) (2, 3)
 (2, 3) and compute the gradient.
33


0
m  0


2   4 6
x
        






This makes sense because as you go

from left to right on the line, you are

not rising or falling (so zero gradient).

The equation of this line is y = 3 since y is 3 everywhere

along the line.

In general, the equation of a horizontal line is y = b, where b

is the y coordinate of any point on the line.
If we look at any points on this line we see that they all have
a x coordinate of - 2 and the y coordinate varies.
y

Let's choose the points (-2, 3) and (-2, - 2)
(-2, 3) 


and compute the gradient.

23 5
(-2, 0) m   undefined
 2   2 0
x
        



(-2, -2) 


Dividing by 0 is undefined so we say
 the gradient is undefined. You can't go
from left to right on the line since there
isn't a left and right.
The equation of this line is x = - 2 since x is - 2 everywhere
along the line.

In general, the equation of a vertical line is x = a, where a is

the x coordinate of any point on the line.
 undefined gradient
It is easy to
remember
undefined
gradient because
you can’t move
along from left to
zero gradient (or no gradient) right (it is vertical)

It is easy to remember 0 gradient

because the line does not slope at
all (it is horizontal)
 We often have points on a line but want to find an equation of the
line. We'll see how to do this by looking at an example. Find the
equation of a line the contains the points (- 2, 4) and (2, - 2).
y


First let's plot 

Now let's compute the
the points and gradient---we know it


graph the line. (x, y) will be negative by



looking at the line.

Pick a general
24
x
        

6 3
(2, -2) m  2   2   4   2
point on the 

line, (x, y). 



Use the point (2, -2) and This is an equation for the line.

this general point in the
gradient formula 3
 
y   2 3  
 x2  y 2    
subbing in the gradient 2 x2 2
we found.
Let's get it in a neater form. If we get rid of brackets and fractions
and get the x and y on one side (with positive x term) and constants
on the other side we'll have standard form.
If we get rid of brackets and fractions and get the x and y on one side
(with positive x term) and constants on the other side we'll have

x  2  y   2
standard form. 3

2
3
get rid of brackets  x3 y2
2
get rid of fractions by multiplying by - 2 3 x  6  2 y  4

get the x and y terms on one side 3 x  2 y  6  4

(with positive x term) general or
constants on the other side 3 x 3x 2 y2 y22 standard

y form

Choose any x and sub it in this equation and



solve for y and you will get a point (x, y) that
   
lies on the line.
   
x


x = 0 30  2 y  2





(0, 1) is on the line

y 1
Let's generalize what we did to get a formula for finding the equation of
a line. Let's call the specific point we know on the line (x1, y2).

y  y1 (x - x1)
Multiply both sides by x - x1 (x - x1) m 
x  x1

rearranging a bit we have: y  y1  mx  x1 

This is called the point-gradient formula because it will find
the equation of a line when you have a specific point (x1, y2)
on the line and the gradient.

We can also use it when we know two points on the line

because we could find the gradient first and then use
one of the points for the specific point.
 Example when you have a point and the gradient
A point on a line and the gradient of the line are given. Find two
additional points on the line.
1,5 m2
To find another +1 +2
point on the Remember that gradient is the
line, repeat this change in y over the change in x.
process with The gradient is 2 which can be
your new point made into the fraction

2
-1 0

(0,3)
1
(0,3)
+1 +2
(1,1)(1,5) So this point is on the line also. You can see
that this point is found by changing (adding) 2
to the y value of the given point and changing
(adding) 1 to the x value.
 A way to do the last problem using the equation of the line
A point on a line and the gradient of the line are given. Find two
additional points on the line.
1,5 m2
x=0 If we find the equation of the line using
20  y  3 the point-gradient formula, we can
easily find additional points on the line
y  3 by subbing in various x values and
finding the y values.

-1 0
y  y1  mx  x1 
y   5  2x  1
(1,5)
y  5  2x  1 y  5  2 x  2
2x  y  3
 2x  y  3
Let's take this equation and solve for y. y  2x  3

This form of the equation is

called gradient-intercept
form because it contains the
gradient and the y intercept
of the line.

-1 0
y  mx  b
gradient-intercept form
Example of given an equation, find the gradient and y intercept
Find the gradient and y intercept of the given equation and graph it.

First let's get this in gradient- 3x  4 y  4  0

intercept form by solving for y. -3x +4 -3x +4

Now plot  4 y  3x  4

the y
intercept
-4 -4
Change in y 3
y  x 1
Change in x 4

y intercept
gradient
From the Now that you
y intercept, have 2 points
count the you can draw
gradient the line y  mx  b
Acknowledgement

I wish to thank Shawna Haider from Salt Lake Community College, Utah
USA for her hard work in creating this PowerPoint.

www.slcc.edu

Shawna has kindly given permission for this resource to be downloaded

from www.mathxtc.com and for it to be modified to suit the Western
Australian Mathematics Curriculum.

Stephen Corcoran
Head of Mathematics
St Stephen’s School – Carramar
www.ststephens.wa.edu.au