What is the slope of any line perpendicular to the line passing through (-21,2) and (-32,5)?

1 Answer
iceman
Dec 16, 2015

slope of the perpendicular line =11/3

Explanation:

First we need to find the slope of the line passing through the points: (-21, 2) and (-32, 5), the slope m between the points:
(x_1, y_1) and (x_2, y_2) is given by:
m=(y_2-y_1)/(x_2-x_1), so in this case:
m=(5-2)/(-32-(-21)), simplifying we get:
m=3/(-32+21)=3/-11=-3/11
Now the perpendicular lines have slopes that are negative reciprocals, so if m_1 and m_2 are the slopes of the two perpendicular lines then:
m_2=-1/m_1, therefore in this case:
m_2= -1/(-3/11) = 11/3

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