How do you find the slope that is perpendicular to the line #y = -3x + 4#?

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Answer 1 · 2017-08-07T17:25:02

See a solution process below:

This equation is in slope-intercept form. The slope-intercept form of a linear equation is: #y = color(red)(m)x + color(blue)(b)#

Where #color(red)(m)# is the slope and #color(blue)(b)# is the y-intercept value.

Therefore, the slope of this line is: #color(red)(m) = -3#

Let's call the slope of a perpendicular line: #m_p#

There formula for the slope of a perpendicular line is the negative inverse of the slope or:

#m_p = -1/m#

Substituting for #m# gives the slope of a perpendicular line as:

#m_p = (-1)/-3 = 1/3#