Slope, is essentially the steepness of a line, expressed at a number, with higher numbers meaning steeper lines and bigger slopes, and lower numbers representing lines that go up gradually and lower slopes. There are also both positive and negative slopes, with positive slopes rising from left to right and negative slopes falling from left to right. To find the slope of a line (when given coordinates of two points on that line), you use the Slope Formula. The formula is (y[sub]2[/sub] - y[sub]1[/sub]) / (x[sub]2[/sub] - x[sub]1[/sub]). Try this example:

First, lets solve the y[sub]2[/sub]-y[sub]1[/sub] part of this. The y[sub]2[/sub] value is 5, and the y[sub]1[/sub] value is 4, so you subtract 4 from 5, which equals 1. Next, lets solve for the x[sub]2[/sub]-x[sub]1[/sub]. [size=85][size=100]The x[sub]2[/sub] value is 2, and the x[sub]1[/sub] value is -2, so you subtract -2 from 2, which eqauls 4. So, all in all, the slope of the line is 1/4 or 0.25.[/size][/size]