Question

How do you graph `y = x - 2` by plotting points?

Answer 1

See below.

Explanation:

Since the equation is slope intercept form:

`y=mx+b`

where `m` is the slope and `b` is the y-intercept (where the graph crosses the y-axis), we know that one point is:

`(0,-2)`

Another important point to have is the x-intercept (where the graph crosses the x-axis). To compute it, we set `y` to `0`.

`y=x-2`
`x-2=0`
`x=2`

Another point is:

`(2,0)`

We can plug in other values of `x` and compute `y` to get more ordered pairs to plot. Usually, it's good practice to pick a few positive and negative points.

graph{y=x-2 [-10, 10, -5, 5]}