Spot the Gradient of a Straight Line from the Equation y = mx + c

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)

Let's try some questions.