Question

Devante is proving that perpendicular lines have slopes that are opposite reciprocals. He draws line m and labels two points on the line as (a, 0)
and (0, b)
.

Enter the answers, in simplest form, in the boxes to complete the proof.

The slope of line m is
. Rotate line m 90° clockwise about the origin to get line n. The labeled points on line m map to (0, −a)
and (
,
) on line n. The slope of line n is
. The slopes of the lines are opposite reciprocals because the product of the slopes is
.

Answer 1

The slope of line m is -b/a. Rotate line m 90° clockwise about the origin to get line n. The labeled points on line m map to (0, −a) and (b, 0) on line n. The slope of line n is a/b. The slopes of the lines are opposite reciprocals because the product of the slopes is -1.