When can a slope not be determined?
The slope of a line can be positive, negative, zero, or undefined. A horizontal line has slope zero since it does not rise vertically (i.e. y1 − y2 = 0), while a vertical line has undefined slope since it does not run horizontally (i.e. x1 − x2 = 0). because division by zero is an undefined operation.
What does an undefined slope look like?
Basically, a slope that is undefined looks like the lines on the coordinate system you see below: When a slope is undefined all you do is moving straight up or straight down only. You are not moving horizontally at all. In other words, the run is zero.
What is an example of a negative slope?
For example, as the number of people that quit smoking (x) increases, the number of people contracting lung cancer (y) decreases. A graph of this relationship has a negative slope.
What does a negative slope mean?
A negative slope means that two variables are negatively related; that is, when x increases, y decreases, and when x decreases, y increases. Graphically, a negative slope means that as the line on the line graph moves from left to right, the line falls.
When can a slope of line be equal to zero?
The slope of a line can be thought of as ‘rise over run. ‘ When the ‘rise’ is zero, then the line is horizontal, or flat, and the slope of the line is zero. Put simply, a zero slope is perfectly flat in the horizontal direction. The equation of a line with zero slope will not have an x in it.
What to do if the slope is undefined?
If the slope of a line is undefined, then the line is a vertical line, so it cannot be written in slope-intercept form, but it can be written in the form: x=a , where a is a constant. If the line has an undefined slope and passes through the point (2,3) , then the equation of the line is x=2 .
Why does the slope formula not work for vertical lines?
The concept of slope simply does not work for vertical lines. The slope of a vertical line does not exist! We can’t divide by zero, which is of course why this slope value is “undefined”. (By the way, all vertical lines are of the form “x = some number”, and “x = some number” means the line is vertical.
Can the run of a slope be negative?
If the slope is negative, then the rise and the run have to be opposites of each other, one has to be positive and one has to be negative. In other words, you will be going up and to the left OR down and to the right.
What are 4 types of slopes?
There are four different types of slope. They are positive, negative, zero, and indefinite.
How do you determine which slope is greater?
When you look at the two lines, you can see that the blue line is steeper than the red line. It makes sense the value of the slope of the blue line, 4, is greater than the value of the slope of the red line, . The greater the slope, the steeper the line.