IntroductionTo Slope

Slope is a measure ofSteepness.

Types of Slope

PositiveNegative

Zero

Undefinedor

No Slope

Slope is sometimesreferred to as the“rate of change”

between 2 points.

The letter “m” isused to represent

slope.

If given 2 points on a line, you may findthe slope using the

formula2 1

2 1

y ym

x x

The formula may sometimes be written

as

What is ∆ ?

ym

x

Find the slope of the line through the

points (3,7) and (5, 19).x1 y1 x2 y2

m = 19 – 7

5 – 3 m = 12 2

m = 6

Intuitive:Find the slope of the

line through thepoints (3,7) and (5, 19).

m = 12

m = 62

(3, 4) and (-6, -2)

m = -2 – 4 -6 – 3

m = -6 -9

m = ⅔

x1 y1 x2 y2

Intuitive:Find the slope of the

line through thepoints (3,4) and (-6, -2).

m = -6 -9

m = ⅔

What if thenumerator is 0?

Then the slope is zero – horizontal line

What if thedenominator is 0?Then the slope is

undefined – vertical line

If given the graphof a line, find the

slope by using the“triangle” method to

find the rise over run.

rise = 4

run = 5

m= rise

run

m= 4/5

Practice:(-2, 8) and (6, 24)

(-3, 9) and (-6, -3)

(-1, 2) and (-4, -6)

Now let’s use this to

graph ...