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KidsMath
Slope
Inmath,theslopedescribeshowsteepastraightlineis.Itissometimescalledthegradient.
EquationsforSlope
Theslopeisdefinedasthe"changeiny"overthe"changeinx"ofaline.Ifyoupicktwopointsonaline
(x1,y1)and(x2,y2)youcancalculatetheslopebydividingy2y1overx2x1.
Herearetheformulasusedtofindtheslopeofaline:

Examples:
1)Findtheslopeforthelineinthegraphbelow:

Thislinegoesthroughthepoints(0,0)and(3,3).
Slope=(y2y1)/(x2x1)
=(30)/(30)
=3/3
=1
Thislinehasaslopeof1.Tryusingdifferentpointsontheline.Youshouldgetthesamesloperegardlessofwhat
pointsyouuse.
2)Findtheslopeofthelineinthegraphbelow:

Youcanseethatthelinecontainsthepoints(2,4)and(2,2).
Slope=(y2y1)/(x2x1)
=(24))/(2(2))
=6/4
=3/2
SpecialCases
Somespecialcasesincludehorizontalandverticallines.
Ahorizontallineisflat.Thechangeinyis0,sotheslopeis0.
Averticallinehasachangeinxof0.Sinceyoucan'tdivideby0,averticallinehasanundefinedslope.
UporDownPositiveorNegativeSlope
Ifyoulookatthelinefromlefttoright,alinethatismovingupwillhaveapositiveslopeandalinethatismoving
downwillhaveanegativeslope.Youcanseethisonthetwoexampleproblemsabove.
RiseoverRun
Anotherwaytorememberhowtheslopeworksis"riseoverrun".Youcandrawarighttriangleusinganytwo
pointsontheline.Theriseisthedistancethatthelinetravelsupordown.Therunisthedistancethattheline
travelsfromlefttoright.


ThingstoRemember
Slope=changeinyoverthechangeinx
Slope=(y2y1)/(x2x1)
Slope=riseoverrun
Youcanpickanytwopointsonalinetocalculatetheslope.
Youcandoublecheckyouranswerbytryingdifferentpointsontheline.
Ifthelineisgoingup,fromlefttoright,theslopeispositive.
Ifthelineisgoingdown,fromlefttoright,theslopeisnegative.

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