Precalculus Examples

$y = - 2 x + 5$

Step 1

Use the slope-intercept form to find the slope.

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Step 1.1

The slope-intercept form is $y = m x + b$ , where $m$ is the slope and $b$ is the y-intercept.

$y = m x + b$

Step 1.2

Using the slope-intercept form, the slope is $- 2$ .

$m = - 2$

Step 2

The equation of a perpendicular line to $y = - 2 x + 5$ must have a slope that is the negative reciprocal of the original slope.

$m_{perpendicular} = - \frac{1}{- 2}$

Step 3

Simplify the result.

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Step 3.1

Move the negative in front of the fraction.

$m_{perpendicular} = \frac{1}{2}$

Step 3.2

Multiply $- - \frac{1}{2}$ .

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Step 3.2.1

Multiply $- 1$ by $- 1$ .

$m_{perpendicular} = 1 (\frac{1}{2})$

Step 3.2.2

Multiply $\frac{1}{2}$ by $1$ .

$m_{perpendicular} = \frac{1}{2}$

Step 4