Page 22 - Calculus Demystified

Basics
CHAPTER 1
y 9

1
1 x

Fig. 1.12

y

x

Fig. 1.13

It turns out that, no matter which two points we may choose on a given line, this
calculation will always give the same answer for slope.

EXAMPLE 1.8
Calculate the slope of the line in Fig. 1.16.
SOLUTION
We use the points P = (−1, 0) and Q = (1, 3) to calculate the slope of
this line:
3 − 0 3
m = = .
1 − (−1) 2