The lines graphed below are perpendicular. The slope of the green line is -1/4 (negative one fourth). What is the slope of the red line?

1 answer

To find the slope of the red line that is perpendicular to the green line with a slope of \(-\frac{1}{4}\), we can use the property that the product of the slopes of two perpendicular lines is \(-1\).

Let \(m_1\) be the slope of the green line (which is \(-\frac{1}{4}\)) and \(m_2\) be the slope of the red line. The relationship can be expressed as:

\[ m_1 \times m_2 = -1 \]

Substituting the value of \(m_1\):

\[ -\frac{1}{4} \times m_2 = -1 \]

To find \(m_2\), we can multiply both sides of the equation by \(-4\):

\[ m_2 = -1 \times -4 \]

This simplifies to:

\[ m_2 = 4 \]

Therefore, the slope of the red line is \(4\).