What is the method for graphing a linear equation?

Answer 1

To graph a linear equation, you have two options. 1. Tables Make a table with x on one side and y on the other. Choose a small number, like one or zero and substitute that for x in the equation. Then solve the equation for y. go back to the table and write what ever number you put for x in the x slot and whatever y had to be with that value for x. Do that one or two more time. You now have coordinates. Take the coordinates (each set of x and y that were related to each other) and put points on their location on the graph. Now draw a line through them and put arrows on the ends and you have your graph. 2. Slope intercept form Take your equation and turn it into slope intercept form. This is the form y=ax+b with a and b being any number. Then, a is the slope of the line and b is the y intercept. First find the y axis and count up if b is positive and down if b is negative the number of units that b is. There is your first point. Then take the number in the a spot. starting at the first point you plotted, if a is whole number, go up if its positive and down if its negative the number that it is and one to the right. If it's a fraction, take the top number and go that number up and take the bottom number and go that number right. If the fraction is negative, go the opposite direction for one of the numbers. once you've found the second point, draw a line through the two points and put arrows at each end. This method, while hard to understand at first, can be pretty easy. The only two problems are that it doesn't work with vertical lines and y can't have anything modifying it (i.e. 2y) in the slope intercept form.