A few days ago
me

How do you find the equation for a linear relationship?

I am very confused with the math i am learning at school. Could someone please clear it up for me a little? thanks

1.How would you find the equation for a linear relationship

a.from a verbal description?

b.from a table of values?

c.from a graph?

Top 2 Answers
A few days ago
Anonymous

Favorite Answer

To get a linear relationship, you need at least two pieces of data, which can come in either of two forms: 1) two points on the line or 2) a slope and a point.

To get it from a “verbal description”, you’d have to be able to pick that information out of the description. For instance, if someone tells you that he makes $5 an hour, that would be the slope. The assumed point on the graph would be (0, 0), meaning that he gets no pay if he doesn’t work any hours. Other verbal descriptions would be similar. This is the most difficult.

To get it from a table of values, just pick any of the two points given. From those two points, you can use the slope formula to get the slope, then you can use the point/slope form for the equation of a line to get it.

From a graph, just pick two points off the graph and follow the procedure used with a table of values. Alternately, if you understand that the slope is the rise over the run, you can pick two points on the graph where it’s easy to see both of those and get the slope directly.

I realize these answers are a little vague, but the nature of the question means you really can’t give anything but a vague answer.

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A few days ago
Anonymous
a.

1. For a linear relationship, the equation would be defined as would be defined by the “rise” over the “run”. In any point in the linear relationship, choose any point in the graph. Draw straight lines up and across from that point.

2. Then draw a vertical line until the that line intersects the graph.

3. Then draw a horizontal line from that point until that line intersects the graph.

4. Then, determine the length of those two lines and insert them in the equation: y=mx + b, where x is the length of the horizontal line and y is the length of the vertical line and you have the equation.

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b.

The same applies for a verbal description, though it might be difficult to interpret. Once you interpret it into a linear relationship, the same applies as in “a”.

c. From a graph, take any point and draw vertical line from that point until it intersects the graph.

d. Using the same point as in step “c”, draw a horizontal line until it intersects the graph.

e. The equation then is: y=mx+b where y is the point determined in step “c” and x is the point determined in step “d”.

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