Indeed, slope is often referred to as m. The rise refers to the change in height; the run, to the change in horizontal position.<\/p>\n
This article assumes you understand points on the cartesian plane. If you don’t, see my article here<\/a>. <\/p>\n Example: Let’s imagine you need the slope of the line pictured here: <\/strong><\/p>\n We need to realize three facts:<\/p>\n 1) Every point is (x,y); x means horizontal position, while y means vertical.<\/p>\n 2) “Change” means the final value minus the initial value.<\/p>\n 3) Once again, the rise refers to the change in height; the run, to the change in horizontal position.<\/p>\n Now we involve the equation for slope:<\/p>\n m=(y2<\/sub>-y1<\/sub>)\/(x2<\/sub>-x1<\/sub>)<\/p>\n Notice that (x1<\/sub>,y1<\/sub>) means “the first point”, while (x2<\/sub>,y2<\/sub>) means “the second point.” It’s helpful to label your two points (x1<\/sub>,y1<\/sub>) and (x2<\/sub>,y2<\/sub>). Next, carefully insert the values in their right places in the equation:<\/p>\n m=(-25-110)\/(240-(-100))<\/p>\n Simplifying, we get<\/p>\n m=-135\/340=-27\/68 or -0.397<\/p>\n Slope is always pictured from left to right. If a line rises to the right, its slope is positive. The line in our example falls to the right; hence, its slope is negative.<\/p>\n The slope of a line has many applications, which I’ll be discussing in future posts:)<\/p>\n![](\"\/..\/slope.png\"\/)
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