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What makes lines parallel or perpendicular?
Lines 2x-8y=- 24 and x-4y=4 are parallel. Line 4x+y=- 2 is perpendicular to lines 2x-8y=- 24 and x-4y=4.
Two lines are parallel if their slopes are identical. To tell if two lines are perpendicular, we check if their slopes are opposite reciprocals. Let's tackle these questions one at a time.
To start, let's write each equation in slope-intercept form, highlighting their slopes.
Line | Given Equation | Slope-Intercept Form | Slope |
---|---|---|---|
a | 2x-8y=- 24 | y=1/4x+3 | m_1=1/4 |
b | 4x+y=- 2 | y=- 4x-2 | m_2=- 4 |
c | x-4y=4 | y=1/4x-1 | m_3=1/4 |
Now that we have identified the slope of each line, we can see that a and c have the same slope, so they are parallel.
Lines | Slope 1 | Slope 2 | Product |
---|---|---|---|
a & b | 1/4 | - 4 | - 1 |
a & c | 1/4 | 1/4 | 1/16 |
b & c | - 4 | 1/4 | - 1 |
We can also determine whether the graphs of the given equations are parallel or perpendicular by graphing them on one coordinate plane.
From the graph, we can see that 2x-8y=- 24 is parallel to x-4y=4, and 4x+y=- 2 is perpendicular to both of them.