The gradient of a line can easily be stated by looking carefully at its equation.
For the line with equation y = mx + c, the gradient is m.
m is the coefficient of x when in the form y = ......
Example
State the gradient of the line with equation y = 2x + 1
Answer
Comparing y = 2x + 1 to y = mx + c, we see that m = 2
The gradient of the line, m, is 2.
Check
The line is shown below.
y = 2x + 1
Note
The equation y = 2x + 1 can be rewritten in several ways as shown below.
They all represent the same line.
y = 1 + 2x
y - 1 = 2x
x = ½ (y - 1)
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Teacher explanation