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- 1). Write out your first point as (0, y) where "y" is the value of the y intercept, which you already know. This is the location of a point on your line in the form of (x, y). In the case of this point, x is zero because, by definition, x is zero at the y intercept. So if your y intercept value is -3, you would write (0, -3).
- 2). Write out your second point as (x, 0) where "x" is the value of the x intercept, which you know. The y value of this point is zero since, by definition, y is zero at the x intercept. If your x intercept value is 6, you would write (6, 0).
- 3). Calculate the slope (m) of this line as the change in y values between the two points divided by the change in x values. The change in y values is (0 - y) and the corresponding change in x values is (x - 0), so the slope is (0 - y)/(x - 0). In the case of the example, the slope of the line is m = (0 - (-3))/(6 - 0) = 3/6 = 0.5.
- 4). Write out the equation of the line in the form of y = m(x) + b, where b is the y intercept value. You now have the equation of the slope passing through your particular x and y intercepts. In the case of the example, the equation of the line with x intercept of 6 and y intercept of -3 would be y = 0.5x - 3.
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