Precalculus: Concepts Through Functions, A Unit Circle Approach to Trigonometry (3rd Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0-32193-104-1
ISBN 13: 978-0-32193-104-7

Chapter F - Foundations: A Prelude to Functions - Section F.3 Lines - F.3 Assess Your Understanding - Page 30: 68

Answer

$y = -2x + 4$

Work Step by Step

With lines that are perpendicular to each other, the product of their slopes is $-1$; one slope is the negative reciprocal of the other. If we want to find the slope of a line that is perpendicular to a given line, we must first find the slope of the given line. This given line is written in standard form, so we want to rewrite this line in slope-intercept form, which is given by the following formula: $y = mx + b$, where $m$ is the slope of the line and $b$ is the $y$-intercept. We can rewrite our equation by isolating our $y$ term. First, we subtract $x$ from each side of the equation: $-2y = -x - 5$ Dividing both sides of the equation by $-2$ to isolate $y$: $y = \dfrac{1}{2}x + \dfrac{5}{2}$ Therefore, the slope of the given line is the coefficient of $x$, so the slope is $\dfrac{1}{2}$. Let us set up an equation to find the slope of the line that is perpendicular to the given line by multiplying the two slopes to yield $-1$. Let $m$ be the slope of the perpendicular line: $(\frac{1}{2})(m) = -1$ Multiply both sides by $2$: $m = -2$ Let us plug this slope and the point we are given into the point-slope form of the equation, which is given by the formula: $y - y_1 = m(x - x_1)$, where $m$ is the slope of the line and $(x_1, y_1)$ is a point on that line. Let us use the point $(0, 4)$ to plug into the formula: $y - 4 = -2(x - 0)$ Simplify the equation: $y - 4= -2x$ We are asked to give the equation either in standard form or slope-intercept form. Let us rewrite this equation in slope-intercept form. To accomplish this, we isolate $y$ by adding $4$ to each side of the equation: $y = -2x + 4$
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