How to find the equation of a line
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SSAT Upper Level Quantitative › How to find the equation of a line
Let y = 3_x_ – 6.
At what point does the line above intersect the following:
They do not intersect
They intersect at all points
(0,–1)
(–5,6)
(–3,–3)
Explanation
If we rearrange the second equation it is the same as the first equation. They are the same line.
Find the equation of the line that has a slope of  and passes through the point 
.
Explanation
In finding the equation of the line given its slope and a point through which it passes, we can use the slope-intercept form of the equation of a line:
, where 
 is the slope of the line and 
 is its 
-intercept.
Since the problem gives us the slope of the line , we just need to use the point that is given to us to find the 
-intercept. Plug in known values for 
 and 
 taken from the given point into the 
 equation and solve for 
 to find the 
-intercept:
Multiply:
Add  to each side of the equation:
Now, we can write the final equation by plugging in the given slope  and the 
-intercept 
:
Find the equation of the line that has a slope of  and passes through the point 
.
Explanation
In finding the equation of the line given its slope and a point through which it passes, we can use the slope-intercept form of the equation of a line:
, where 
 is the slope of the line and 
 is its 
-intercept.
Since the problem gives us the slope of the line , we just need to use the point that is given to us to find the 
-intercept. Plug in known values for 
 and 
 taken from the given point into the 
 equation and solve for 
 to find the 
-intercept:
Multiply:
Subtract  from each side of the equation:
Now, we can write the final equation by plugging in the given slope  and the 
-intercept 
:
Find the equation of a line that has a slope of  and passes through the point 
.
Explanation
The question gives us both the slope and the -intercept of the line. Remember that 
 represents the slope, and 
 represents the 
-intercept to write the following equation:
Alternatively, if you did not realize that the problem gives you the -intercept, you could solve it by using the slope-intercept form of the equation of a line:
, where 
 is the slope of the line and 
 is its 
-intercept.
Since the problem gives us the slope of the line , we would just need to use the point that is given to us to find the 
-intercept. We could plug in the known values for 
 and 
 taken from the given point into the 
 equation and solve for 
 to find the 
-intercept:
Multiplying leaves us with:
.
We could then substitute in the given slope and the -intercept into the 
 equation to arrive at the correct answer:
What line goes through the points (1, 3) and (3, 6)?
3x + 5y = 2
2x – 3y = 5
4x – 5y = 4
–3x + 2y = 3
–2x + 2y = 3
Explanation
If P1(1, 3) and P2(3, 6), then calculate the slope by m = rise/run = (y2 – y1)/(x2 – x1) = 3/2
Use the slope and one point to calculate the intercept using y = mx + b
Then convert the slope-intercept form into standard form.
Find the equation of the line that has a slope of  and passes through the point 
.
Explanation
The question gives us both the slope and the -intercept of the line, allowing us to write the following equation by inserting those values into the slope-intercept form of the equation of a line, 
:
Alternatively, if you did not realize that the problem gives you the -intercept, you could solve it by using the slope-intercept form of the equation of a line. Since the problem gives us the slope of the line 
, we would just need to use the point that is given to us to find the 
-intercept. We could plug in the known values for 
 and 
 taken from the given point into the 
 equation and solve for 
 to find the 
-intercept:
Multiplying leaves us with:
We could then substitute in the given slope and the -intercept into the 
 equation to arrive at the correct answer:
Find the equation of the line that passes through the points  and 
.
Explanation
First, notice that our -intercept for this line is 
; we can tell this because one of the points, 
, is on the 
-axis since it has a value of 
 for 
.
Now, we need to find the slope of the line. We can do that by using the slope equation:
We can substitute in the values of the provided points—,
, 
 and 
—and then solve for the slope of the line that connects them:
Now, put the two pieces of information together and substitute them into the  equation to solve the problem:
Find the equation of the line that passes through  and 
.
Explanation
First, notice that our -intercept for this line is 
; we can tell this because one of the points, 
, is on the 
-axis since it has a value of 
 for 
.
Now, we need to find the slope of the line. We can do that by using the slope equation:
We can substitute in the values of the provided points—,
, 
 and 
—and then solve for the slope of the line that connects them:
Now, put the two pieces of information together and substitute them into the  equation to solve the problem:
Find the equation of a line that has a slope of  and passes through the points 
.
Explanation
In finding the equation of the line given its slope and a point through which it passes, we can use the slope-intercept form of the equation of a line:
, where 
 is the slope of the line and 
 is its 
-intercept.
Since the problem gives us the slope of the line , we just need to use the point that is given to us to find the 
-intercept. Plug in known values for 
 and 
 taken from the given point into the 
 equation to find the 
-intercept:
Multiply:
Subtract  from each side of the equation:
Now that you've solved for , you can plug the given slope 
 and the 
-intercept 
 into the slope-intercept form of the equation of a line to figure out the answer:
Find the equation of the line that passes through the points .
Explanation
First, notice that our -intercept for this line is 
; we can tell this because one of the points, 
, is on the 
-axis since it has a value of 
 for 
.
Now, we need to find the slope of the line. We can do that by using the slope equation:
We can substitute in the values of the provided points—,
, 
 and 
—and then solve for the slope of the line that connects them:
Now, put the two pieces of information together and substitute them into the  equation to solve the problem: