In this explainer, we will learn how to write linear functions in different forms, such as standard form and slope-intercept form.
We know that a linear relationship between two quantities is characterized by a constant rate of change between both quantities. This type of relationship is a function since every input gives exactly one output. A function that has a constant rate of change is called a linear function. As the name suggests, its graph is a straight line; it is a straight line because the rate of change is constant. Inversely, if the graph of a function is a straight line, then it has a constant rate of change.
The rate of change for a function is defined as the rate of the change in the value of the function to the corresponding change in :
If is graphed on a coordinate plane, then the -coordinate of any point on the graph gives the value of when the input is the -coordinate of this point. The rate of change is then simply the rate of the change in to the change in between the two points.
Let us take an example. Consider a linear function . We know that
The rate of change between these two values of is then given by
Let us look now at the graph of this linear function with .
We see that any variation in with respect to the variation in can be decomposed in βunit variationsβ represented here by the blue triangles. This is the representation of the rate of change: a change of 1 in leads to a change of in , so a change of 4 in leads to a change 4 times bigger than in , that is, 2.
We see that, for any two points lying on a straight line, the difference in their -coordinates is proportional to the difference in their -coordinates. The rate of change is actually the coefficient of proportionality between the change in and the change in ; it is the slope of the line that represents the function. Note that it can be either positive or negative (or zero, when the line is horizontal, representing a constant function).
Let us now see how to use this result to find an equation between the
-coordinates and the -coordinates of all the
points lying on the line in our example above. What do we know about any other point
lying on the same line?
We know that the change in the -coordinates between and is given by multiplying the change in the -coordinates by the rate of change, that is, by . Therefore, we can write
Since and , we have
We can expand the brackets and find that
Adding 2 to each side then gives us which is
Since can be any point lying on the line, we can write the equation in a more general form, dropping the subscript :
This is the equation of a line: it gives the relationship between the - and -coordinates of any point lying on the line. It is also the function rule for with .
The general form of the equation of a straight line is , where is the slope of the line and is a constant.
Let us look at the meaning of the constant . We find that when , the equation gives which simplifies to
Therefore, is the -coordinate of the point where the line intersects the -axis. For this reason, is called the -intercept of the line. We can check this on the graph of our line ; the line intersects the -axis at the point .
Let us summarize our findings.
Equation of a Line
The equation of a line is generally written in the form , where is the slope of the line and is the -intercept.
If the line passes through two points of coordinates and , then is
This can be expressed as
The slope gives the change in when increases by .
The line intersects the -axis at the point of coordinates .
Let us now look at some questions to check our understanding.
Example 1: Finding the Slope of a Line from Its Equation
What is the slope of the line of the equation ?
Answer
Recall that the slopeβintercept form of the equation of a straight line is , where is the slope of the line and is the -intercept. Here, the equation of the line is .
Comparing both, we find that .
Hence, the slope of this line is 8.
Example 2: Finding the π¦-Intercept of a Line from Its Equation
What is the -intercept of the line of the equation ?
Answer
Recall that the slopeβintercept form of the equation of a straight line is , where is the slope of the line and is the -intercept. Here, the equation of the line is . Comparing both, we find that .
Hence, the -intercept is 7.
Example 3: Finding the Slope of a Line from a Graph
What is the slope of the line shown in the figure?
Answer
Recall that the slope is given by the ratio of the vertical change to the horizontal change between the two points. To find the slope of a line graphically, we need to work out the changes between two well-defined points.
We see that, between the two points of coordinates and , a horizontal change of in gives rise to a change of in . Hence, we have
The slope of the line shown in the figure is .
We can check that our result is correct by checking that when increases by 1, decreases by 2.
Example 4: Finding the π¦-Intercept of a Line from a Graph
What is the -intercept of the line shown in the figure?
Answer
The -intercept of a line is the -coordinate of the point where the line intersects the -axis.
Here, the line intersects the -axis at the point of coordinates . Hence, the -intercept is 10.
Example 5: Matching the Equation of a Linear Function to Its Graph
Which of the following equations represents the function drawn on the graph?
Answer
The graph of the function shown is a straight line. Therefore, it is a linear function and its equation is of the form , where is the slope and is the -intercept of the line that represents .
Hence, we can already eliminate option E, which is not a linear function.
In the equations in options A and B, is , which implies that the lines that represent them have negative slopes. A negative slope means that when increases, decreases. We see that it is not the case here as increases when increases (the line βgoes upβ from left to right).
Hence, we can eliminate options A and B.
We can quickly check that the slope of the line shown here is indeed 2, as given in the equations in options C and D. A slope of 2 means that increases by 2 when increases by 1.
We find that this is the case indeed.
The difference between the equations in options C and D is the value of . Remember that a line of the equation intersects the -axis at the point of coordinates . Here, the line intersects the -axis at the point of coordinates . Hence, the right equation of the function represented by this line is
That is, option D.
Key Points
- The slopeβintercept form of the equation of a line is of the form , where is the slope of the line and is the -intercept.
- A line is the graph of a linear function of the equation .
- The slope of a line, , is equal to the rate of change of the function. The rate of change is given by between two points of coordinates and . Graphically, it is
- The slope gives the change in when increases by .
- The line intersects the -axis at the point of coordinates .