Find Slope of a Line

Example on to find the slope of a line given by its equation.

Example 1

What is the slope of the line corresponding to the equation $-8 x+5 y-3=0$?
  1. $\dfrac{8}{5}$
  2. $-\dfrac{8}{5}$
  3. $\dfrac{5}{8}$
  4. $-\dfrac{5}{8}$
  5. $\dfrac{3}{5}$

Solution

This example is about finding the slope of a line given by an equation.

  1. We first rewrite the given equation in slope intercept form $y = m x + b$ and then identify the slope $m$. Solve for $y$ the equation $-8 x+5 y-3=0$ as follows: First isolate the term in $y$

    $5 y=8 x + 3$

  2. Divide all terms of the equation by $5$

    $y=\dfrac{8}{5} x + \dfrac{3}{5}$

    The slope $m$ is the coefficient of $x$ and is equal to $\dfrac{8}{5}$.

    Answer A