Find the point on the given line that is closest to the given point.[br][br][i]Note[/i]: Drag the blue point to try a different problem.

[list=1][br][*]Find the line perpendicular to the given line that passes through the given point.[br][*]Identify the slope of the given line.[br][*]Find the opposite reciprocal of the slope of the given line.[br][*]Substitute the opposite reciprocal for [math]m[/math] in the point-slope form of a linear equation.[br][*]Substitute [math]x[/math] and [math]y[/math] from the given point into the equation for [math]x_{1}[/math] and [math]y_{1}[/math].[br][*]Simplify the equation.[br][*]Find the intersection between the two lines by setting the given equation equal to the equation of the perpendicular line, then solve for [math]x[/math].[br][*]Substitute the value of [math]x[/math] back into the given equation to find the value of [math]y[/math].[br][*]Calculate the distance between the two points using the distance formula.[br][/list][br][br]This applet is provided by Walch Education as supplemental material for their mathematics programs. Visit [url="http://www.walch.com"]www.walch.com[/url] for more information on their resources.