How do you find the slope of 2x+8y=9?

1 Answer
Sally
Dec 11, 2014

In the general form of a line y=mx+b, m represents the slope of the line and b the y-intercept. Here, we have the line 2x+8y=9...we want it in the form y=mx+b so we can get our m (the slope) directly.

To do this, we simply solve 2x+8y=9 for y with some algebra:

2x+8y=9
-Take 2x to the left hand side of the equation by subtracting it from both sides
8y=9−2x=−2x+9
-Divide by 8 on both sides of the equation to get y alone
y=−28x+98=−14x+98

And there we have the line y=−14x+98, with m=slope=−14

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