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The phrase "linear equation" takes its origin in this correspondence between lines and equations: a linear equation in two variables is an equation whose solutions form a line. If b ≠ 0, the line is the graph of the function of x that has been defined in the preceding section. If b = 0, the line is a vertical line (that is a line parallel to ...
Slope illustrated for y = (3/2)x − 1.Click on to enlarge Slope of a line in coordinates system, from f(x) = −12x + 2 to f(x) = 12x + 2. The slope of a line in the plane containing the x and y axes is generally represented by the letter m, [5] and is defined as the change in the y coordinate divided by the corresponding change in the x coordinate, between two distinct points on the line.
Using this form, vertical lines correspond to equations with b = 0. One can further suppose either c = 1 or c = 0, by dividing everything by c if it is not zero. There are many variant ways to write the equation of a line which can all be converted from one to another by algebraic manipulation. The above form is sometimes called the standard form.
The distance (or perpendicular distance) from a point to a line is the shortest distance from a fixed point to any point on a fixed infinite line in Euclidean geometry. It is the length of the line segment which joins the point to the line and is perpendicular to the line. The formula for calculating it can be derived and expressed in several ways.
In the theory of quadratic forms, the parabola is the graph of the quadratic form x 2 (or other scalings), while the elliptic paraboloid is the graph of the positive-definite quadratic form x 2 + y 2 (or scalings), and the hyperbolic paraboloid is the graph of the indefinite quadratic form x 2 − y 2. Generalizations to more variables yield ...
Here the function is f(x) = (x3 + 3x2 − 6x − 8)/4. In mathematics, a cubic function is a function of the form that is, a polynomial function of degree three. In many texts, the coefficients a, b, c, and d are supposed to be real numbers, and the function is considered as a real function that maps real numbers to real numbers or as a complex ...
Cartesian coordinate system with a circle of radius 2 centered at the origin marked in red. The equation of a circle is (x − a)2 + (y − b)2 = r2 where a and b are the coordinates of the center (a, b) and r is the radius. Cartesian coordinates are named for René Descartes, whose invention of them in the 17th century revolutionized ...
Linear function (calculus) In calculus and related areas of mathematics, a linear function from the real numbers to the real numbers is a function whose graph (in Cartesian coordinates) is a non-vertical line in the plane. [1] The characteristic property of linear functions is that when the input variable is changed, the change in the output is ...