You'll need to substitute 0 for both variables and solve.
x-intercept: 0
y-intercept: 0
Practice makes perfect
To determine the x- and y-intercepts of a line, we need to substitute 0 for one variable, solve, then repeat for the other variable.
Finding the x-intercept
Think of the point where the graph of an equation crosses the x-axis. The y-value of that ( x, y) coordinate pair is 0, and the x-value is the x-intercept. To find the x-intercept of the equation, we should substitute 0 for y and solve for x.
An x-intercept of 0 means that the graph passes through the x-axis at the point ( 0,0).
Finding the y-intercept
We could use the same concept to find the y-intercept, but take a close look at the given equation.
y=x ⇔ y=x+ 0
The given equation is in slope-intercept form, y=mx+ b. For an equation in this form, we know that the constant b represents the y-intercept. Therefore, the y-intercept is 0, and the graph passes through the y-axis at the point (0, 0).
