CHAPTER 9: STRAIGHT LINES

INTERCEPTS

-intercept:
x

the -coordinate of a point where a line or a curve intersects the -axis.

x x
Note: on -axis,
x y=0
-intercept:
y

the y -coordinate of a point where a line or a curve intersects the y -axis.

Note: on y -axis, x=0

For example, for the diagram above,

x -intercept = 6, y -intercept = 3
A. State the intercepts of each of the following straight lines.

1. 2. 3. 4.

x -intercept : x -intercept : x -intercept : x -intercept :

y -intercept : y -intercept : y -intercept : y -intercept :

B. State the coordinates of point P and point Q .

1. 2. 3. 4.
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5. 6. 7. 8.

RECALL: GRADIENT

In Mathematics, gradient
(m) is another word for “slope”.
The higher the gradient of a graph, the steeper the line is.

A negative gradient means a line slopes downwards.

The formula to calculate the gradient of a straight line graph is

y 2− y 1
m=
x 2−x 1
For example, for the graph on the left, its gradient is

4−2
m= =2
2−1

C. Calculate the gradient of each of the following straight lines.

1. 2. 3. 4.
 CHAPTER 9: STRAIGHT LINES

5. 6. 7. 8.

EQUATION OF A STRAIGHT LINE: connection between the equation y=mx+c ,the gradient and the y -intercept
 The general form of a straight line is y=mx+c where m is the gradient and c is the y -intercept.

D. Determine the gradient and the y -intercept for each of the following straight lines.
1. y=2 x−1 2. y=−3 x + 4 2 −3
3. y= x +7 4. y= x−5
3 4
gradient = gradient =
y -intercept = y -intercept = gradient = gradient =
y -intercept = y -intercept =
5. y=3 6. x=2 7. y=x 8. y=6 x
gradient = gradient = gradient = gradient =
y -intercept = y -intercept = y -intercept = y -intercept =
INTERPRETING THE EQUATIONS OF STRAIGHT LINES IN OTHER FORMS

A straight line equation can be expressed in several other forms other than y=mx+c , which is in
 General form :ax +by +c=0
x y
 Intercepts form : + =1 , where a=x -intercept and b= y -intercept
a b

E. Determine the gradient and the y -intercept for each of the following straight lines.
1. 3 x+ y−5=0 2. 4 x−3 y=7 3. −2 x+5 y =9

gradient = gradient = gradient =

y -intercept = y -intercept = y -intercept =
x y x y 3x 2 y
4. + =1 5. − =2 6. + =1
2 3 4 5 5 3

gradient = gradient = gradient =

 CHAPTER 9: STRAIGHT LINES

y -intercept = y -intercept = y -intercept =

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POINTS ON A STRAIGHT LINE AND EQUATION OF THE LINE

 To determine whether a given point lies on a specific line, substitute the values of x -coordinate and y -coordinate of the point into
the straight line equation.
 If the value obtained satisfied the equation, then the point lies on the given straight line.

F. Determine whether each of the following points lie on the given straight lines.

1. A ( 1 ,5 ) , y=3 x +2 2. B (−1, 7 ) , y−5 x +2=0 x y

3. C ( 5 , 0 ) , + =1
5 2

GRADIENT OF PARALLEL LINES

 Two lines are parallel if and only if both lines have the same gradients.

G.

1. Determine whether each of the following pairs of straight lines are parallel. 2. Given that the straight line
3 y=9−2 x is parallel to the straight
(a) y= x +5 and 4 y−3 x=−1 (b) 2 y−3 x−7=0 and y−2 x=6 line
4
y= (3−2 k ) x+7 , find the value of k
.

H. Find the equation of the following straight lines

1. in general form. 2. in intercepts form. 3. in gradient form.

y -intercept = 6 y -intercept = −4
gradient = 2 −3
gradient =
5
 CHAPTER 9: STRAIGHT LINES

4. in intercepts form. 5. in gradient form. 6. in general form.

7. PQ and UV 8. passes through the points 9. passes through the points

(3 , 4) and ( 4 ,−4 ) (−8 , 0) and ( 7 , 6 )

10. passes through the point ( 3 , 4 )with 11. parallel to the line y=4 x−3 and 12. passes through the point (5 ,−2) and
gradient ¿ 2 passes through the point ( 2 ,16 ) parallel to the line 3 x+ 5 y =25

POINT OF INTERSECTION OF TWO STRAIGHT LINES

 the point of intersection of two straight lines can be obtained by

- drawing the graphs of the two straight lines
- solving simultaneous equations by substitution or elimination method.
 CHAPTER 9: STRAIGHT LINES

1. Find the point of intersection of the two straight lines 2. A straight line PQ passes through the point ( 3 , 0 ) and has a
x− y =1 and 3 x−4 y=2 gradient of 3 while the straight line ST passes through the
points ( 6 , 0 ) and ( 0 , 3 ) .
Method 1:
a. Find the equations of the straight lines PQ and ST
b. Determine the point of intersection of both straight lines.

Method 2:

3. The diagram shows two parallel lines MON and
a. The gradient of the straight line MON
b. The coordinates of point S
c. The equation of straight line STU .
STU .Find 4. In the diagram, O is the origin and OPQR is a parallelogram.
The coordinates of points P and R are ( 4 , 7) and ( 6 , 4 )
respectively. Find
a. The gradient of the straight line ¿
b. The equation of the straight line PQ
c. The equation of the straight line QR
d. The coordinates of point Q .