The letter "m" is commonly used to symbolize slope for several reasons. One explanation is that it stands for "modulus," which refers to the measure of steepness in mathematics. Another reason is that "m" is derived from the French word "monter," meaning "to climb," reflecting the slope's representation of rising or falling values. Lastly, it distinguishes slope from other variables, as "x" and "y" are already used to represent the coordinates in a Cartesian plane.
Chat with our AI personalities
You can have infinitely many lines through one specific point, each with a different equation. If you want to have a general equation for ANY line that goes through that point, use the point-slope equation for a line, and use a variable for the slope.
It is convenient for different people to agree on the standard order of operations. This saves complicated explanations.
lay down
A vertical line HAS NO slope! The slope is undefined in this case.
When formatting the equation of a given line into slope-intercept form.