Chapter 3

Graphing
Equations and
Lines

Section 3.3: Lines

Course of Math105 Basic Science Department

 Section 3.3: Lines

3.3.1 Graph Lines

3.3.2 Equations of
straight Lines

3.3.3 Parallel and

perpendicular lines
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3.3.1 Graph Lines
Theorem: Equation of a Line
If , and are constants, where and and are variables, then the graph of the
equation:
(Standard Form) is a line.

Graphing Techniques for the Equation

1) Pick any two ordered pairs satisfying . Recall you that an easy way to find
such pairs is to use the intercepts.
2) Plot the ordered pairs in the Cartesian Plane and draw a line with a ruler
passing through these points.

Example 1: Using intercepts to graph a line

Graph the equation .
Solution: Find the intercepts:
 Let ,
y-intercept
 Let
x-intercept
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3.3.1 Graph Lines
Vertical and Horizontal Lines
1) An equation of the horizontal line passing through the point is .
2) An equation of the vertical line passing through the point is .

Example 2&3: Graphing Horizontal and Vertical lines

Find an equation of the horizontal line Find an equation of the vertical line that
that passes through the point . Then passes through the point . Then graph the
graph the line. line.
Solution: The equation of the Solution: The equation of the vertical
horizontal line is . line is .
This horizontal line consists of all This vertical line consists of all points
points and , and has
has one one -intercept
-intercept at at and
and no -intercept.
no -intercept.
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3.3.1 Graph Lines

Definition: Slope of a line
The slope of a nonvertical line passing through two distinct points and , is
given by the formula:
, where
or

Example 4: Finding Slops

Example 4: Find the slope of the line passing through each pair of points.
a) , b) , c) , d) ,
Solution:
a) b)
c) This line is horizontal.
d) The slope is undefined. This line is vertical.
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3.3.1 Graph Lines

Geometric Interpretation of Slope: Lines fall into one of four categories:

Line Slope
Rising* Positive
(y -values are increasing)
Falling* Negative
(y-values are decreasing)
Horizontal
(y -values are constant)
Vertical
(y -values are increasing
Not defined
while x -values are
constant)
Rising* (from the left to right) and Falling* (from left to right).
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3.3.2 Equations of Straight Lines

Theorem: Slope-Intercept form of the equation of a non vertical line.
The equation of the non-vertical line crossing
the y-axis at the point and
having slope m is given by the equation:
.

Note: Note that the slope of an equation of the form ()can be transformed
to the form

Example 5: Using the slope-intercept form

Write the equation of the line in the slope-intercept form. Give the slope
and y-intercept of the line.
Solution:
The y-intercept is and the slope is .
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Example 6: : Finding Equation of a Line with two given points (Using the Slope-Intercept

form)

Find an equation of the line passing through the points and . Then graph
the line.
1) First, we find the slope : .
So, the equation of the line is .
2) Now we find b. We choose one of the given points,
for example .

Then, the slope-intercept form is

3) To graph the line, we can plot then we use the
definition of the slope to arrive at .

Try & Check

Find an equation of the line passing through the points and .
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Example 7: Finding Equation from the graph

Use the graph shown in the figure

below to do the following:
a) Find -intercept, y-intercept and the slope.
b) Find the equation of the line.

Solution:
a) The graph intersects the x-axis at the point and intersects the y-axis at the point .
So, the x-intercept is and the y-intercept is .
The slope is .
b) The slope is and the y-intercept is . Thus, the equation of the line in slope-
intercept form is
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3.3.2 Equations of Straight Lines

Theorem: Point-Slope form for the equation of a line
The point-slope form of the equation of a line with slope m, passing through the
point is: .

Example 8: Using Point Slope Form (Given a Point and slope )

Find an equation of the line that has as slope and passes through the
point . Write the final answer in the standard form .
Solution:
We have the slope and a point . Then,

or .

Try & Check

Find an equation of the line that has a slope of and passes through the
point . Write the final answer in the standard form .
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Example 9: Using Point Slope Form (Given two Points )

Find an equation of the line passing through the points and .

Solution:

1. Find the slope:

So, the equation of the line is
. Point-Slope Form

2. Choose one of the given points, for example . We get:

.

3. Write the equation in standard form, we obtain:

The equation of the line passing through the points and is , or .
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3.3.3 Parallel and perpendicular lines

Parallel Lines
Two lines L1 and L2 on a plane are
parallel (denoted as L1 // L2 ) if they
never meet.
Perpendicular Lines
Two lines L1 and L2 are
perpendicular (denoted as L1 ⊥ L2)
if their intersection forms four right
angles.

Theorem: Parallel and Perpendicular Lines

Given two nonvertical lines L1 and L2, with slopes and , respectively,
then :
L1 // L2 if and only if
L1 L 2 if and only if
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Example 10: Parallel and Perpendicular Lines

Consider the line L: .
a) Write an equation of the line L1 that passes through the point and is
parallel to L.
b) Write an equation of the line L2 that passes through the point and is
perpendicular to L.
Solution:
Find the slope of the line L: .
Thus, the slope of L is .
a) Parallel lines have equal slope: b) The slope of L2 is the negative
The slope of L1 is . reciprocal of the slope of L:
Write the line in point-slope form: .
Write the line in point-slope form and
If we substitute the point into the substitute into the equation:
equation , we get: