Question

How do you write the equation of the line that passes through the points P(8, -1), Q(0, -7)?

Answer 1

The answer is: `y = 6/8x-7`

First, we need to find the slope of the line. Slope can be found as:

`m = (y_1 - y_2)/(x_1-x_2)`

`m = (-1-(-7))/(8-0) = 6/8`

So our incomplete line equation is:

`y = 6/8x+n`

Lets plug one the points to the equation to find the value of `n`

I will plug `P`

`-1 = 6/8*8 + n`

`-1 = 6+n`

`n=-7`

So the line equation is:

`y = 6/8x-7`