Equation of Line

In geometry, a line is a straight curve. Lines are used to represent straight objects with negligible width and height. A line segment is a part of a given line that is bounded by two distinct end points and contains every point on the line between its end points. A line has a zero curvature and it has no thickness. It has no ends and so it extends indefinitely. Different Types of Lines Lines are classified in to different types based on their properties. The different types of lines are, Straight Line Parallel Lines General form: A straight line is defined by a linear equation whose general form is, Know More About Quadrilateral Definition Vertical line Perpendicular Lines Horizontal line Transversal Lines Skew Lines

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Ax+By+C=0, Where A, B are not both 0. Slope- intercept equation: The equation of line with a given slope value m and the y-intercept b is; y=mx+b Line through two points: The line passing through two distinct points (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) is given by, y = y1 + [(y2 - y1) / (x2 - x1)] (x - x1), Where x1 and x2 are assumed to be different. Line Equation (1) can also be written as y - y1 = [(y2 - y1) / (x2 - x1)](x x1) Equation of a Line Examples Below you could see example on equation of a line Example: Find the lines equation of the straight line with slope 4 and passing through the point (2,1). Solution: The slope intercept form of line equation is, Learn More Properties of Quadrilaterals

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y = mx + b y=4x+b 1=4(2) +b, as this line passes through (2,1) we substitute x=2, and y=1 1=8+b b=1-8 b=-7 Thus the equation of line is: y=4x-7

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What is a Perpendicular Line

Two intersecting lines will have four angles formed at the intersection points. If all the four angles are equal, then the two lines are said to be perpendicular to each other. We already know by linear postulate theorem that the two vertically opposite angles are equal. Hence if these two lines are perpendicular, then all four angles are 90 degrees. Examples of perpendicular lines: In the graph paper, The X-axis and Y-axis are perpendicular. In an ellipse two axes, minor axis, and major axis are perpendicular. For a line segment, any shortest line from a point outside the circle is perpendicular. Tangent and normal to any curve are perpendicular lines. Slopes of two perpendicular lines: In coordinate Geometry, when two lines are perpendicular, the product of the slopes of the lines is -1. This property has a lot of applications in finding the equation of perpendicular lines, length of perpendicular segment from a point to a given line, etc. For any curve in a graph with equation y = f(x), the slope of the tangent is defined as the rate of change of y with respect to x at that point. The normal to this curve at this point is perpendicular to the tangent line.

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Example: In a circle, with centre at the origin and radius 3, the equation will be of the form (x)+(y) = 3. Take any point say (0,3). To find the tangent, we have to find dy/dx. Differentiating, 2x+2y =0 Hence, the slope of the normal is perpendicular to x axis or parallel to y axis. Example for Perpendicular Lines from a Point to a Line Let AB be a line with coordinates (1,2) and (3,4). Measure the length of perpendicular line from (-1,1) to this line segment. We know that the perpendicular line from (-1,1) has a slope of -1/slope of AB. Equation of AB is (x-1)/(3-1) = (y-2)/(4-2) Or x-1 = y-2 Or y = x+1 Slope of AB passing through (1,2) and (3,4) is 4 - 2/3 -1 =1. Slope of perpendicular line to AB is -1. Since the perpendicular line passes through (-1,1) equation of the perpendicular is y-1 = -1(x+1) or y =-x -1 +1 or y = -x. To get the foot of the perpendicular line on AB, we solve the two equations by substitution method. y = x+1 = -x This on simplification gives 2x = -1 or x = -1/2. Since y = -x , we have y = +1/2, Read More About Types of Quadrilaterals

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So, foot of the altitude from the point (-1,1) is (-1/2,1/2). The length of the perpendicular segment is between (-1,1) and (-1/2,1/2) is [ (-1/2+1)+(1/2-1)] = (1/4+1/4) = (1/2) = 1/1.414 = 0.707 approximately.

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ThankYou

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