Algebra Examples

$(- 2, 1)$ , $(4, 5)$

Step 1

Use $y = m x + b$ to calculate the equation of the line, where $m$ represents the slope and $b$ represents the y-intercept.

To calculate the equation of the line, use the $y = m x + b$ format.

Step 2

Slope is equal to the change in $y$ over the change in $x$ , or rise over run.

$m = \frac{(change in y)}{(change in x)}$

Step 3

The change in $x$ is equal to the difference in x-coordinates (also called run), and the change in $y$ is equal to the difference in y-coordinates (also called rise).

$m = \frac{y_{2} - y_{1}}{x_{2} - x_{1}}$

Step 4

Substitute in the values of $x$ and $y$ into the equation to find the slope.

$m = \frac{5 - (1)}{4 - (- 2)}$

Step 5

Finding the slope $m$ .

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Step 5.1

Simplify the numerator.

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Step 5.1.1

Multiply $- 1$ by $1$ .

$m = \frac{5 - 1}{4 - (- 2)}$

Step 5.1.2

Subtract $1$ from $5$ .

$m = \frac{4}{4 - (- 2)}$

Step 5.2

Simplify the denominator.

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Step 5.2.1

Multiply $- 1$ by $- 2$ .

$m = \frac{4}{4 + 2}$

Step 5.2.2

Add $4$ and $2$ .

$m = \frac{4}{6}$

Step 5.3

Cancel the common factor of $4$ and $6$ .

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Step 5.3.1

Factor $2$ out of $4$ .

$m = \frac{2 (2)}{6}$

Step 5.3.2

Cancel the common factors.

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Step 5.3.2.1

Factor $2$ out of $6$ .

$m = \frac{2 \cdot 2}{2 \cdot 3}$

Step 5.3.2.2

Cancel the common factor.

$m = \frac{2 \cdot 2}{2 \cdot 3}$

Step 5.3.2.3

Rewrite the expression.

$m = \frac{2}{3}$

Step 6

Find the value of $b$ using the formula for the equation of a line.

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Step 6.1

Use the formula for the equation of a line to find $b$ .

$y = m x + b$

Step 6.2

Substitute the value of $m$ into the equation.

$y = (\frac{2}{3}) x + b$

Step 6.3

Substitute the value of $x$ into the equation.

$y = (\frac{2}{3}) \cdot (- 2) + b$

Step 6.4

Substitute the value of $y$ into the equation.

$1 = (\frac{2}{3}) \cdot (- 2) + b$

Step 6.5

Find the value of $b$ .

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Step 6.5.1

Rewrite the equation as $\frac{2}{3} \cdot - 2 + b = 1$ .

$\frac{2}{3} \cdot - 2 + b = 1$

Step 6.5.2

Simplify each term.

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Step 6.5.2.1

Multiply $\frac{2}{3} \cdot - 2$ .

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Step 6.5.2.1.1

Combine $\frac{2}{3}$ and $- 2$ .

$\frac{2 \cdot - 2}{3} + b = 1$

Step 6.5.2.1.2

Multiply $2$ by $- 2$ .

$\frac{- 4}{3} + b = 1$

Step 6.5.2.2

Move the negative in front of the fraction.

$- \frac{4}{3} + b = 1$

Step 6.5.3

Move all terms not containing $b$ to the right side of the equation.

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Step 6.5.3.1

Add $\frac{4}{3}$ to both sides of the equation.

$b = 1 + \frac{4}{3}$

Step 6.5.3.2

Write $1$ as a fraction with a common denominator.

$b = \frac{3}{3} + \frac{4}{3}$

Step 6.5.3.3

Combine the numerators over the common denominator.

$b = \frac{3 + 4}{3}$

Step 6.5.3.4

Add $3$ and $4$ .

$b = \frac{7}{3}$

Step 7

Now that the values of $m$ (slope) and $b$ (y-intercept) are known, substitute them into $y = m x + b$ to find the equation of the line.

$y = \frac{2}{3} x + \frac{7}{3}$

Step 8