Finite Math Examples

$(- 5, - 2)$ , $(- 2, - 17)$

Step 1

Find the slope of the line between $(- 5, - 2)$ and $(- 2, - 17)$ using $m = \frac{y_{2} - y_{1}}{x_{2} - x_{1}}$ , which is the change of $y$ over the change of $x$ .

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Step 1.1

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 1.2

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 1.3

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

$m = \frac{- 17 - (- 2)}{- 2 - (- 5)}$

Step 1.4

Simplify.

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Step 1.4.1

Simplify the numerator.

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Step 1.4.1.1

Multiply $- 1$ by $- 2$ .

$m = \frac{- 17 + 2}{- 2 - (- 5)}$

Step 1.4.1.2

Add $- 17$ and $2$ .

$m = \frac{- 15}{- 2 - (- 5)}$

Step 1.4.2

Simplify the denominator.

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Step 1.4.2.1

Multiply $- 1$ by $- 5$ .

$m = \frac{- 15}{- 2 + 5}$

Step 1.4.2.2

Add $- 2$ and $5$ .

$m = \frac{- 15}{3}$

Step 1.4.3

Divide $- 15$ by $3$ .

$m = - 5$

Step 2

Use the slope $- 5$ and a given point $(- 5, - 2)$ to substitute for $x_{1}$ and $y_{1}$ in the point-slope form $y - y_{1} = m (x - x_{1})$ , which is derived from the slope equation $m = \frac{y_{2} - y_{1}}{x_{2} - x_{1}}$ .

$y - (- 2) = - 5 \cdot (x - (- 5))$

Step 3

Simplify the equation and keep it in point-slope form.

$y + 2 = - 5 \cdot (x + 5)$

Step 4

Solve for $y$ .

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Step 4.1

Simplify $- 5 \cdot (x + 5)$ .

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Step 4.1.1

Rewrite.

$y + 2 = 0 + 0 - 5 \cdot (x + 5)$

Step 4.1.2

Simplify by adding zeros.

$y + 2 = - 5 \cdot (x + 5)$

Step 4.1.3

Apply the distributive property.

$y + 2 = - 5 x - 5 \cdot 5$

Step 4.1.4

Multiply $- 5$ by $5$ .

$y + 2 = - 5 x - 25$

Step 4.2

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

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Step 4.2.1

Subtract $2$ from both sides of the equation.

$y = - 5 x - 25 - 2$

Step 4.2.2

Subtract $2$ from $- 25$ .

$y = - 5 x - 27$

Step 5

List the equation in different forms.

Slope-intercept form:

$y = - 5 x - 27$

Point-slope form:

$y + 2 = - 5 \cdot (x + 5)$

Step 6