Graphing y = mx+b
Date: 6/28/96 at 21:48:14 From: Anonymous Subject: Graphing y = mx+b Would you please explain to me the whole concept of graphing, algebra level. I don't understand what y=mx+b means and how to do slope intercept form. I am going into algebra 1 next year. Please help me.
Date: 6/30/96 at 15:49:44 From: Doctor Robert Subject: Re: Graphing y = mx+b An awful lot of algebra involves sets of ordered pairs. I assume that you know how to graph ordered pairs on the x-y plane. (The horizontal axis is the x-axis while the vertical axis is the y-axis.) Consider the following ordered pairs (0,1), (1,3), (2,5)(,3,7), (4,9), etc. You will notice that a rule which relates each of the numbers in the ordered pairs is y = 2x + 1 The rule says, take the value of x, multiply it by 2 and add 1 and you have the value of y! If you draw the straight line that contains all of the ordered pairs above, you will notice that the line has a slope of 2 and that it crosses the y-axis at 1. So, if you are given an equation in the form y = mx + b, you know that the slope of the line is m and that the line crosses the y-axis at the number b. I hope that this helps. -Doctor Robert, The Math Forum Check out our web site! http://mathforum.org/dr.math/
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