Chapter 8.4, Problem 28E

To determine

To find:

The slope of the line that passes through the given points.

Answer to Problem 28E

The slope of the linepassing through the given points would be $-5$ .

Explanation of Solution

Given:

Two points on a line: $(-1,0)\text{and (}0,-5)$ .

Concept used:

  $\begin{array}{l}m=\frac{y_2-y_1}{x_2-x_1},\text{where,}\\ m=\text{Slope of line,}\\ y_2-y_1=\text{Difference between two }y\text{-coordinates}\\ x_2-x_1=\text{Difference between two }x\text{-coordinates of same }y-\text{coordinates}\end{array}$

Calculation:

Let point $(-1,0)=(x_1,y_1)\text{and (}0,-5)=(x_2,y_2)$ . Upon substitutingcoordinates of our given points in slope formula, we will get:

  $\begin{array}{l}m=\frac{y_2-y_1}{x_2-x_1}\\ m=\frac{-5-0}{0-(-1)}\\ m=\frac{-5}{0+1}\\ m=-5\end{array}$

Therefore, the slope of the line passing through the given points would be $-5$ .