# 4.4 Understand slope of a line

 Page 1 / 14
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
• Use geoboards to model slope
• Use $m=\frac{rise}{run}$ to find the slope of a line from its graph
• Find the slope of horizontal and vertical lines
• Use the slope formula to find the slope of a line between two points
• Graph a line given a point and the slope
• Solve slope applications

Before you get started, take this readiness quiz.

1. Simplify: $\frac{1–4}{8-2}$ .
If you missed this problem, review [link] .
2. Divide: $\frac{0}{4},\frac{4}{0}$ .
If you missed this problem, review [link] .
3. Simplify: $\frac{15}{-3},\frac{-15}{3},\frac{-15}{-3}$ .
If you missed this problem, review [link] .

When you graph linear equations, you may notice that some lines tilt up as they go from left to right and some lines tilt down. Some lines are very steep and some lines are flatter. What determines whether a line tilts up or down or if it is steep or flat?

In mathematics, the ‘tilt’ of a line is called the slope of the line. The concept of slope has many applications in the real world. The pitch of a roof, grade of a highway, and a ramp for a wheelchair are some examples where you literally see slopes. And when you ride a bicycle, you feel the slope as you pump uphill or coast downhill.

In this section, we will explore the concept of slope.

## Use geoboards to model slope

A geoboard    is a board with a grid of pegs on it. Using rubber bands on a geoboard gives us a concrete way to model lines on a coordinate grid. By stretching a rubber band between two pegs on a geoboard, we can discover how to find the slope of a line.

Doing the Manipulative Mathematics activity “Exploring Slope” will help you develop a better understanding of the slope of a line. (Graph paper can be used instead of a geoboard, if needed.)

We’ll start by stretching a rubber band between two pegs as shown in [link] .

Doesn’t it look like a line?

Now we stretch one part of the rubber band straight up from the left peg and around a third peg to make the sides of a right triangle, as shown in [link]

We carefully make a 90º angle around the third peg, so one of the newly formed lines is vertical and the other is horizontal.

To find the slope of the line, we measure the distance along the vertical and horizontal sides of the triangle. The vertical distance is called the rise    and the horizontal distance is called the run    , as shown in [link] .

If our geoboard    and rubber band look just like the one shown in [link] , the rise is 2. The rubber band goes up 2 units. (Each space is one unit.)

What is the run?

The rubber band goes across 3 units. The run is 3 (see [link] ).

The slope of a line is the ratio of the rise to the run. In mathematics, it is always referred to with the letter $m$ .

## Slope of a line

The slope of a line    of a line is $m=\frac{\text{rise}}{\text{run}}$ .

The rise    measures the vertical change and the run    measures the horizontal change between two points on the line.

What is the slope of the line on the geoboard in [link] ?

$\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill m& =\hfill & \frac{\text{rise}}{\text{run}}\hfill \\ \hfill m& =\hfill & \frac{2}{3}\hfill \end{array}$

The line has slope $\frac{2}{3}$ . This means that the line rises 2 units for every 3 units of run.

When we work with geoboards, it is a good idea to get in the habit of starting at a peg on the left and connecting to a peg to the right. If the rise goes up it is positive and if it goes down it is negative. The run will go from left to right and be positive.

Larry and Tom were standing next to each other in the backyard when Tom challenged Larry to guess how tall he was. Larry knew his own height is 6.5 feet and when they measured their shadows, Larry’s shadow was 8 feet and Tom’s was 7.75 feet long. What is Tom’s height?
6.25
Ciid
Wayne is hanging a string of lights 57 feet long around the three sides of his patio, which is adjacent to his house. the length of his patio, the side along the house, is 5 feet longer than twice it's width. Find the length and width of the patio.
Ciid
tyler
tyler
tyler
tyler
SOH = Sine is Opposite over Hypotenuse. CAH= Cosine is Adjacent over Hypotenuse. TOA = Tangent is Opposite over Adjacent.
tyler
H=57 and O=285 figure out what the adjacent?
tyler
Amara currently sells televisions for company A at a salary of $17,000 plus a$100 commission for each television she sells. Company B offers her a position with a salary of $29,000 plus a$20 commission for each television she sells. How many televisions would Amara need to sell for the options to be equal?
what is the quantity and price of the televisions for both options?
karl
Amara has to sell 120 televisions to make 29,000 of the salary of company B. 120 * TV 100= commission 12,000+ 17,000 = of company a salary 29,000 17000+
Ciid
Amara has to sell 120 televisions to make 29,000 of the salary of company B. 120 * TV 100= commission 12,000+ 17,000 = of company a salary 29,000
Ciid
I'm mathematics teacher from highly recognized university.
here a question professor How many soldiers are there in a group of 27 sailors and soldiers if there are four fifths as many sailors as soldiers? can you write out the college you went to with the name of the school you teach at and let me know the answer I've got it to be honest with you
tyler
is anyone else having issues with the links not doing anything?
Yes
Val
chapter 1 foundations 1.2 exercises variables and algebraic symbols
June needs 45 gallons of punch for a party and has 2 different coolers to carry it in. The bigger cooler is 5 times as large as the smaller cooler. How many gallons can each cooler hold? Enter the answers in decimal form.
Joseph would like to make 12 pounds of a coffee blend at a cost of $6.25 per pound. He blends Ground Chicory at$4.40 a pound with Jamaican Blue Mountain at $8.84 per pound. How much of each type of coffee should he use? Samer 4x6.25=$25 coffee blend 4×4.40= $17.60 ground chicory 4x8.84= 35.36 blue mountain. In total they will spend for 12 pounds$77.96 they will spend in total
tyler
DaMarcus and Fabian live 23 miles apart and play soccer at a park between their homes. DaMarcus rode his bike for three-quarters of an hour and Fabian rode his bike for half an hour to get to the park. Fabian’s speed was six miles per hour faster than DaMarcus’ speed. Find the speed of both soccer players.
i need help how to do this is confusing
what kind of math is it?
Danteii
help me to understand
huh, what is the algebra problem
Daniel
How many soldiers are there in a group of 27 sailors and soldiers if there are four fifths many sailors as soldiers?
tyler
What is the domain and range of heaviside
What is the domain and range of Heaviside and signum
Christopher
25-35
Fazal
The hypotenuse of a right triangle is 10cm long. One of the triangle’s legs is three times the length of the other leg. Find the lengths of the three sides of the triangle.
Tickets for a show are $70 for adults and$50 for children. For one evening performance, a total of 300 tickets were sold and the receipts totaled \$17,200. How many adult tickets and how many child tickets were sold?
A 50% antifreeze solution is to be mixed with a 90% antifreeze solution to get 200 liters of a 80% solution. How many liters of the 50% solution and how many liters of the 90% solution will be used?
June needs 45 gallons of punch for a party and has 2 different coolers to carry it in. The bigger cooler is 5 times as large as the smaller cooler. How many gallons can each cooler hold?