Question line-p
Line is defined by . Line is perpendicular to line in the xy-plane. What is the slope of line ?
Line p is defined by 2 y + 18 x = 9 . Line r is
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 C is correct. It’s given that line is perpendicular to line in the xy-plane. This means that the slope of line is the negative reciprocal of the slope of line . If the equation for line is rewritten in slope-intercept form , where and are constants, then is the slope of the line and is its y-intercept. Subtracting from both sides of the equation yields . Dividing both sides of this equation by yields . It follows that the slope of line is . The negative reciprocal of a number is divided by the number. Therefore, the negative reciprocal of is , or . Thus, the slope of line is .
Choice A is incorrect. This is the slope of line , not line .
Choice B is incorrect. This is the reciprocal, not the negative reciprocal, of the slope of line .
Choice D is incorrect. This is the negative, not the negative reciprocal, of the slope of line .
More Linear Functions practice questions
- x 10 15 20 25 f x 82 137 192 247 The table shows
- Line k is defined by y = 17 7 x + 4 . Line
- An object hangs from a spring. The formula relates the length , in centimeters,
- Oil and gas production in a certain area dropped from 4 million barrels in
- Sean rents a tent at a cost of $ 11 per day plus a
- The line graphed in the xy -plane below models the total cost, in dollars,
- The equation E t = 5 1.8 t gives the estimated number of employees
- A bus is traveling at a constant speed along a straight portion of road.
Browse all Heart of Algebra practice questions or return to the full SAT question bank.
