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Exercises Graphs and straight lines

Example 4.48 from Elementary Algebra, 4.5 Use the Slope–Intercept Form of an Equation of a Line

Use the Slope–Intercept Form of an Equation of a Line: example 4.48

Determine the most convenient method to graph each line.

ⓐ $y = −6$ ⓑ $5 x - 3 y = 15$ ⓒ $x = 7$ ⓓ $y = \frac{2}{5} x - 1$ .

Work it out on paper first. Then open the solution one step at a time, and stop as soon as you can finish on your own.

1
Solution
1. ⓐ $y = −6$
  This equation has only one variable, $y$ . Its graph is a horizontal line crossing the y-axis at $−6$ .
2. ⓑ $5 x - 3 y = 15$
  This equation is of the form $A x + B y = C$ . The easiest way to graph it will be to find the intercepts and one more point.
3. ⓒ $x = 7$
  There is only one variable, $x$ . The graph is a vertical line crossing the x-axis at 7.
4. ⓓ $y = \frac{2}{5} x - 1$
  Since this equation is in $y = m x + b$ form, it will be easiest to graph this line by using the slope and y-intercept.

Your turn

The book's Try It right after this example: same idea, new numbers. Only the answer is given.

Determine the most convenient method to graph each line: ⓐ $3 x + 2 y = 12$ ⓑ $y = 4$ ⓒ $y = \frac{1}{5} x - 4$ ⓓ $x = −7$ .

How did it go?

PreviousUse the Slope–Intercept Form of an Equation of a Line: example 4.47 Next Use the Slope–Intercept Form of an Equation of a Line: example 4.49

From Elementary Algebra (1st edition) by OpenStax (Rice University), section 4.5, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Original at openstax.org. We split the solution into steps; the words, numbers and figures are the book's. OpenStax doesn't endorse this site.