Algebra 1 Help

SoldierX77

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Point-Slope Form
Standard Form
Y-Intercept Form

So, recently my teacher gave us some homework relating to the top three forms above... and I have no idea how to do it. I knew how to do it yesterday in class, but it spaced my mind, and he has us take notes that don't help... So, I'm asking anyone with some knowledge over the forms, that can help me learn them, and figure out a way to "convert" them into one another. Some sample problems would be nice, as well as instructions. I know it's asking a lot, but I need some help. My teacher's cool, but he's not very good at explaining things like this. Hopefully someone can help, Thanks

- SoldierX77
 
Well, point slope form is: y-y1 = m(x-x1) where y1(y subscript 1) and x1(x subscript 1) are a point on the line an m is the slope. If you know those, you can simply substitute into the formula and get the equation of a line.

Example:

A line passes through the point (4, –3) and has slope m = 1. Find the equation in point–slope form.

y - (-3) = 1(x-4)
y + 3 = x-4 <- point slope form
y = x-4-3
y = x+7 <- this has been reduced to slope intercept form.
0 = x - y + 7
x-y = -7 <- Ax + By = C

Slope intercept form: y = mx + b where m is the slope and b is the y intercept.
 
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OOO! I got it, and I just realized that I forgot the y-y1 = m(x-x1), that makes things A LOT easier, for that, how would I go about changing the Point-Slope form into Slope-Intercept form? And I know that Standard form is ax + bx = c, but I don't know how to change them into that either.
 
OOO! I got it, and I just realized that I forgot the y-y1 = m(x-x1), that makes things A LOT easier, for that, how would I go about changing the Point-Slope form into Slope-Intercept form? And I know that Standard form is ax + bx = c, but I don't know how to change them into that either.

Slope-intercept form is:
y=mx+b
Since point-slope is y-y1=m(x-x1), you just need to solve for Slope-intercept.

y-y1=m(x-x1) Given
y-y1=mx + -(m(x1))Use the Distributive property. Simplify if you have more data.
y=mx + [ -(m(x1))+y1] Add y1 to both sides.

The part in brackets is your y-intercept(b). I'll need some paper and a camera to do standard...
 
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This post can get long.

There are three forms. The general form, 0=ax+by+c. The point slope form is (y1-y2)=m(x1-x2). The y intercept form if y=mx+b. The notation of the constants can be confusing and tends to mix things.

First, lets look at the slope intercept form.

y=mx+b. Note that this form makes it easiest to graph a line given the equation. To understand this form it is best to look at the simplest equation for a line, y=x or if you expand it y=1x+0. This means that the line crosses the y axis at (0,0). Also, you can tell by the 1, which is 1/1 that if you take any point on the line, (0,0) being the easiest, and want to find another point all you have to do is add 1 to the x and y coordinate, (0+1,0+1)=(1,1) is another point on the line.

If i want to turn the y intercept into the other forms all i need to do is go to the general form, 0=ax+by+c.

y=mx+b and subtract y from both sides and you get 0=mx-y+b.

To find the point slope form it takes an extra step. Take the y intercept form and you need to find a point on the line. The simplest point to get is to take when x=0 then y=b, the point being (0,b). Another simple point is to take y=0 and solve for x, which gives you the point (-b/m,0). Then just plug in the point into the point slope form, (y-b)=m(x-0), and you can see how easy it is to solve for y and to get y=mx+b.

The point intercept form is good for finding the equation of a line given two points. The slope m=(y2-y1)/(x2-x1)=(y1-y2)/(x1-x2). Keep in mind that it does not matter if you do y2-y1 or y1-y2 as long as you follow the same order on the x side. Once you have the slope m you take one of the points and you get (y-y1)=m(x-x1). To change it to another form is easy.

Solve for y to get the slope intercept form, y=mx +(-mx1+y1), where (-mx1+y1) is a number and the y intercept. To get to the general form is obvious from this step.

Lastly, the general form, 0=ax+by+c. This is probably the best form when you get into advanced mathematics, but it can take some experience to master. You may not make a lot of use for this form in graphing. But if you do have this equation you can simply find any point on the line, just let y=0 and solve for x, or let x=0 and solve for y.

If you let x=0 then 0=by+c. If you let y=0 when 0=ax+c. That gives you a point on the line. Then you can find another point on the line by letting x=x1 and y=y1 instead of x=0 and y=0. But pick your x and y carefully so you can get a nice solution. You want something which cancels out a and b in a nice fashion; another easy point is x=a, y=b, but not always.

I could say more and there are plenty of other tricks about lines, but they are hard to explain in text on a forum.
 
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