Point-Slope Form

Point-slope form might be less familiar and more formal-looking. It is a general form of a linear equation with a known slope and one of the points. Watch this lecture series and complete the interactive exercises.

Point-slope form - Questions

Answers

1. y-3=-\frac{1}{2}(x-1)

The general point-slope form y-y_{1}=m\left(x-x_{1}\right), where m is the slope and \left(x_{1}, y_{1}\right) is a point on the line.

Why?

The point-slope form comes directly from the definition of slope. We'll use m to represent slope and \left(x_{1}, y_{1}\right) as one point on the graph of the equation.

\frac{\text { change in } y}{\text { change in } x}=m

\begin{aligned}
&\frac{y-y_{1}}{x-x_{1}}=m \\
&y-y_{1}=m\left(x-x_{1}\right)
\end{aligned}

Let's find the slope between (1, 3) and (5, 1):

\begin{aligned}
\text { Slope } &=\frac{1-3}{5-1} \\
&=\frac{-2}{4} \\
&=-\frac{1}{2}
\end{aligned}

The incomplete equation starts with y-3, so we need to use the point (1,3):

y-3=-\frac{1}{2}(x-1)


2. y-9=17(x-(-7))

The general point-slope form is y-y_{1}=m\left(x-x_{1}\right), where m is the slope and \left(x_{1}, y_{1}\right) is a point on the line.

Why?

The point-slope form comes directly from the definition of slope. We'll use m to represent slope and \left(x_{1}, y_{1}\right) as one point on the graph of the equation.

\frac{\text { change in } y}{\text { change in } x}=m

\begin{aligned}
&\frac{y-y_{1}}{x-x_{1}}=m \\
&y-y_{1}=m\left(x-x_{1}\right)
\end{aligned}

Let's find the slope between (-7,9) and (-8, -8):

\begin{aligned}
\text { Slope } &=\frac{9-(-8)}{-7-(-8)} \\
&=\frac{17}{1} \\
&=17
\end{aligned}

The incomplete equation starts with y-9, so we need to use the point (-7, 9):

y-9=17(x-(-7))


3. y-2=2(x-5) 

The general point-slope form is y-y_{1}=m\left(x-x_{1}\right), where m is the slope and \left(x_{1}, y_{1}\right) is a point on the line.

Why?

The point-slope form comes directly from the definition of slope. We'll use m to represent slope and \left(x_{1}, y_{1}\right) as one point on the graph of the equation.

\frac{\text { change in } y}{\text { change in } x}=m

\begin{aligned}
&\frac{y-y_{1}}{x-x_{1}}=m \\
&y-y_{1}=m\left(x-x_{1}\right)
\end{aligned}

Let's find the slope between (5,2) and ( -1,-10):

\begin{aligned}
\text { Slope } &=\frac{2-(-10)}{5-(-1)} \\
&=\frac{12}{6} \\
&=2
\end{aligned}

The incomplete equation starts with y-2, so we need to use the point (5,2):

y-2=2(x-5)


4. y-(-3)=-\frac{3}{5}(x-6)

The general point-slope form is y-y_{1}=m\left(x-x_{1}\right), where m is the slope and \left(x_{1}, y_{1}\right) is a point on the line.

Why?

The point-slope form comes directly from the definition of slope. We'll use m to represent slope and \left(x_{1}, y_{1}\right) as one point on the graph of the equation.

\frac{\text { change in } y}{\text { change in } x}=m

\begin{aligned}
&\frac{y-y_{1}}{x-x_{1}}=m \\
&y-y_{1}=m\left(x-x_{1}\right)
\end{aligned}

Let's find the slope between (6, -3) and ( 1, 0):

\begin{aligned}
\text { Slope } &=\frac{-3-0}{6-1} \\
&=\frac{-3}{5} \\
&=-\frac{3}{5}
\end{aligned}

The incomplete equation starts with y -(-3), so we need to use the point (6,-3):

y-(-3)=-\frac{3}{5}(x-6)