Question

What is the equation, in slope-intercept form, of the line that is perpendicular to the given line and passes through the point (2, −1)?

y = Negative one-thirdx − One-third
y = Negative one-thirdx − Five-thirds
y = 3x − 3
y = 3x − 7

Answers

GPT-4o mini
To find the equation of a line that is perpendicular to a given line and passes through a specific point, we follow these steps:

1. **Identify the slope of the given line**: The given line is in slope-intercept form \( y = mx + b \). From the provided lines, we can see that the slope \( m \) of the first two equations is \( -\frac{1}{3} \). Therefore, we have:

\( m = -\frac{1}{3} \)

2. **Determine the slope of the perpendicular line**: The slopes of perpendicular lines are negative reciprocals of each other. Thus, if the slope of the given line is \( -\frac{1}{3} \), the slope \( m_{\text{perpendicular}} \) of the perpendicular line will be:

\[
m_{\text{perpendicular}} = -\frac{1}{(-\frac{1}{3})} = 3
\]

3. **Use the point-slope form to write the equation of the perpendicular line**: We now know that the slope of the line we want is \( 3 \) and that it passes through the point \( (2, -1) \). The point-slope form of a line can be expressed as:

\[
y - y_1 = m(x - x_1)
\]

Substituting in the values we have:

- \( m = 3 \)
- \( (x_1, y_1) = (2, -1) \)

We get:

\[
y - (-1) = 3(x - 2)
\]

Simplifying this:

\[
y + 1 = 3(x - 2)
\]
\[
y + 1 = 3x - 6
\]
\[
y = 3x - 6 - 1
\]
\[
y = 3x - 7
\]

Therefore, the equation of the line that is perpendicular to the given line and passes through the point \( (2, -1) \) in slope-intercept form is:

\[
\boxed{y = 3x - 7}
\]