Theequationoflinesis

y
=
7
2
x
+
1
2
. Line
tisperpendicularto
s . What
istheslopeofline
t ?

Simplify your answer and write it as a proper fraction, improper fraction, or integer.

1 answer

The equation of line \( s \) is given as:

\[ y = \frac{7}{2}x + \frac{1}{2} \]

In this equation, the slope of line \( s \) is \( \frac{7}{2} \).

Since line \( t \) is perpendicular to line \( s \), the slope of line \( t \) can be found using the property that the slopes of two perpendicular lines multiply to \( -1 \).

Let \( m_s \) be the slope of line \( s \) and \( m_t \) be the slope of line \( t \).

Thus, we have:

\[ m_s \cdot m_t = -1 \]

Substituting the known slope of line \( s \):

\[ \frac{7}{2} \cdot m_t = -1 \]

To find \( m_t \), we can isolate it:

\[ m_t = -\frac{1}{\frac{7}{2}} = -\frac{1 \cdot 2}{7} = -\frac{2}{7} \]

Therefore, the slope of line \( t \) is

\[ \boxed{-\frac{2}{7}}. \]