[br]Observe that when you graph straight lines, the lines slant in different directions. The measure of this slant is called the [color=#0000ff]slope, [/color]usually expressed as a ratio of two numbers: [color=#0000ff]change in y/change in x[/color]. A common mnemonic to remember this relationship is [color=#0000ff]rise/run[/color].[br][br]This applet dynamically illustrates the concept of the slope.[br][br]Use the slider to learn about the slope.[br][br]Grab one of the points and rotate it to complete a full circle. Observe the changes in the value of the fraction as well as the sign.
[b][color=#0000ff]QUESTION 1[/color][/b]: How does the value of the slope change in relation to the slant?
The slope increases in absolute value as the line becomes steeper and decreases as the line gets flatter. The slope is zero when the line is perfectly horizontal and is undefined (division by zero is undefined!) when it is perfectly vertical.
[color=#0000ff][b]QUESTION 2[/b][/color]: How does the sign of the slope change in relation to the slant?[br]
The slope is positive when the line rises from left to right and negative when it falls from left to right.