Q. 143 - Precalculus Enhanced with Graphing Utilities

Question

A student is asked to find the slope of the line joining (-3, 2) and (1, -4). He states that the slope is $\frac{3}{2}$. Is he correct? If not, what went wrong?

Step-by-Step Solution

Answer

No. he is incorrect the slope of the line is $-\frac{3}{2}$

Step 1: Given information

The given points are $A(-3,2),B(1,-4)$

Step 2: Find the slope

We get,

$$\begin{gathered} Slope=\frac{-4-2}{1-(-3)} \\ Slope=\frac{-6}{4} \\ Slope=-\frac{3}{2} \end{gathered}$$

Step 3: Conclusion

No he is not correct. he did not consider the negative sign occured during the calculation. The slope of the line passing through the given point is $-\frac{3}{2}$.