Summary: Equations of Lines

Key Concepts

  • Given two points, we can find the slope of a line using the slope formula.
  • We can identify the slope and y-intercept of an equation in slope-intercept form.
  • We can find the equation of a line given the slope and a point.
  • We can also find the equation of a line given two points. Find the slope and use point-slope form.
  • The standard form of a line has no fractions.
  • Horizontal lines have a slope of zero and are defined as y=c, where c is a constant.
  • Vertical lines have an undefined slope (zero in the denominator) and are defined as x=c, where c is a constant.
  • Parallel lines have the same slope and different yintercepts.
  • Perpendicular lines have slopes that are negative reciprocals of each other unless one is horizontal and the other is vertical.

Glossary

slope
the change in yvalues over the change in xvalues