Finding the slope of the line through (4, 0) and (4, 5)

[leslie5912]

I am having trouble with the finding of a slope. I know the formula for the slope of the line through two points (x_1, y_1) and (x_2, y_2) is:

. . .m = (y_2 - y_1) / (x_2 - x_1)

My ploblem is to find the slope of the line passing through the points (4, 0) and (4, 5). I did the following:

. . .m = (5 - 0) / (4 - 1) = 5

Is this correct? If not, am I even on the right track? Thank you!
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Edited by stapel -- Reason for edit: formatting

 

[stapel]

If you graph the two points, you will see what kind of line you will have. This should tell you, before you do any computations, what sort of slope you should get.

I'm not sure where you got your x- and y-values for the slope computations. According to the points you gave, x_1 = 4, x_2 = 4, y_1 = 0, and y_2 = 5. Then the slope computation should have been:

. . . . .\(\displaystyle \L m\, =\, \frac{y_2\, -\, y_1}{x_2\, -\, x_1}\, =\, \frac{5\, -\, 0}{4\, -\, 4}\)

Where did the "1" come from? When you simplified, where did your denominator go?

Please try the exercise again, and compare your result with the graph. Thank you.

Eliz.