Question line-h
Line is defined by . Line is perpendicular to line in the xy-plane. What is the slope of line ?
Line h is defined by 1 5 x + 1 7 y - 70 = 0
Hard-difficulty · SAT Math · Linear Functions — Parallel/perpendicular line relationships. Read the question above, select your answer, and check the full explanation below to understand exactly why the correct choice works.
Answer explanation
Choice D is correct. It’s given that line is defined by . This equation can be written in slope-intercept form , where is the slope of line and is the y-coordinate of the y-intercept of line . Adding to both sides of yields . Subtracting from both sides of this equation yields . Multiplying both sides of this equation by yields . Therefore, the slope of line is . It’s given that line is perpendicular to line in the xy-plane. Two lines are perpendicular if their slopes are negative reciprocals, meaning that the slope of the first line is equal to divided by the slope of the second line. Therefore, the slope of line is the negative reciprocal of the slope of line . The negative reciprocal of is , or . Therefore, the slope of line is .
Choice A is incorrect. This is the slope of a line in the xy-plane that is parallel, not perpendicular, to line .
Choice B is incorrect. This is the reciprocal, not the negative reciprocal, of .
Choice C is incorrect. This is the negative, not the negative reciprocal, of .
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