”Do not worry about your problems with mathematics,

I assure you mine are far greater.” - Albert Einstein Linear Equation Notes Created by: Matthew Westerhoff, 2006

Slope-Intercept Form:
y = mx + b , where
m = slope and b = ordinate of the y-intercept.
x is the independent variable and y is the dependent variable.

To find x-intercept let y = 0 and solve for x.

To find y-intercept let x = 0 and solve for y.
Standard Form:
Ax + By = C, where
A, B, and C are constants.

Point-Slope Form:
y − y1 = m(x − x1 ) where
m = slope and (x1 , y1 ) is a point on the line

Definition of Slope:
Given two points (x1 , y1 ) and (x2 , y2 ) on a line then

y −y change of y ∆y
m = x2 − x1 = = ∆x = rise
run
2 1 change of x
Horizontal Lines have 0 slope.
Vertical Lines have an undefined slope.

Parallel and Perpendicular Lines:

Given two linear equations y1 = m1 x1 + b1 and y2 = m2 x2 + b2 , then

If m1 = m2 then y1 k y2 (y1 is parallel y2 )

If m1 · m2 = −1 then y1 ⊥ y2 (y1 is perpendicular to y2 )