## anonymous one year ago Plz Help!! Find the slope of a line on a graph (-2,-1), (-4,4)

1. anonymous

@dan815

2. anonymous

i know u gave me the formula i dont understand it though

3. anonymous

you can totally do this! $\frac{ y-y_1 }{ x-x_1 }$ just plug in the numbers...

4. anonymous

um....i cant lol im not smart

5. anonymous

6. anonymous

coordinates/ordered pairs are always written as (x,y).

7. anonymous

1 and 4

8. anonymous

check again...negatives matter

9. anonymous

-1,4?

10. anonymous

bingo! ok, so let's plug that in...$\frac{ y-y_1 }{ x-x_1 }=\frac{ -1-4 }{ x-x_1 }$

11. anonymous

now let's figure out our x-coordinates...

12. anonymous

then -2,4

13. anonymous

your coordinates are (-2,-1) and (-4,4) so I agree with -2 being an x-coordinate, but what's the first number in the 2nd set of coordinates?

14. anonymous

@Whalexnuker

15. anonymous

-4

16. anonymous

ok, so this is the tricky part...

17. anonymous

$\frac{ -1-4 }{ -2--4 }$

18. anonymous

do you see how -1 is the first number on top and -2 is the first number on the bottom? That's because those 2 numbers go together (-2,-1)

19. anonymous

there is only one -4

20. anonymous

ya

21. anonymous

the denominator (bottom) says -2 minus -4

22. anonymous

oh lol srry

23. anonymous

it's ok :) do you know how to subtract negative numbers?

24. anonymous

ya

25. anonymous

-6

26. anonymous

after this i have one more

27. anonymous

-2-(-4) isn't going to equal -6. that would be true if you were adding, but you're subtracting.

28. anonymous

subtracting a negative is like adding a positive...so instead of -2-(-4) think -2+4

29. anonymous

oh so then 2

30. anonymous

perfect, what about the top number?

31. anonymous

-1-4

32. anonymous

-5

33. anonymous

so put it all together and you have your slope! -5/2

34. anonymous

thnk you so much

35. anonymous

you are so very welcome! I wish I could stay and help more, but I have work in the morning. Good luck on the rest of your problems!