Measure slope, -m, with the following formula:

m= y₂₁ x₂−x₁

Be careful: x and y are not raised to the 2^nd power.

Calculate the slope of y= 1/2x +2 using the following points on the graph: (2,3) and (-8,-2).

Follow these steps:

1. Label x₁, y_1, x₂, y₂:

x₁,y₁ x₂,y₂
(2,3) (-8,-2)

2. Plug the numbers into the formula:

m= -2−3
-8−2

3. Simplify:

m= -5
-10

m= 1
2

Slope is 1/2.

Notice that the slope is the same here as it was when we used points A and B on the graph.

For any given linear function, the slope is the same throughout the entire line.