Linear algebra/Linear equations
Linear equations, also known as first-degree equations, are algebraic equations that contain a variable which always has the highest power of 1. There are multiple ways a linear equation can be presented in including the General form, the Slope-intercept form and Point-slope form. The different forms of presentation emphasizes different aspects of each equation. The graph of a linear equation on the xy-plane is always a line, thus the name "linear".
General form
[edit | edit source]The General form is shown as where , are variables and a,b as constants (not both 0). This provides the possibility of easily converting to other forms of the equation for different purposes.
Slope-intercept form
[edit | edit source]The Slope-intercept form take the form of where , are variables and a,b as constants. This form emphasizes the slope of the linear equation along with the y-intercept of the equation represented by constants a and b respectively. Intuitively, the y-intercept of an equation is the y-value for when the graph intersects the y-axis.
Example
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The slope of the equation is 3 with the y-intercept being 1.
Point-slope form
[edit | edit source]The Point-slope form take the form of , where , are variables, (, ) is a point on the equation, and m is the slope of the equation. This form points out a point on the equation while also showing the slope.
Example
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The slope of the equation is 4 with (2,3) being a point that the equation passes through.
Solving linear equations / Graphing
[edit | edit source]The most direct way of graphing a linear equation is to use its Slope-intercept form, and set , respectively. The result of this is two functions of variables and set equal to constants. Solving for the variables will result in two points on the xy-axis where the equation intercepts, connecting the two points with a straight line will result in the graph of the linear equation.
Problem Set
[edit | edit source]Graph the following linear equations:
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