Question

fill in the blanks below.
(a) find the slope of the line passing through the points (-9, -5) and (7, -5).
slope:
(b) find the slope of the line passing through the points (5, 4) and (5, -9).
slope:

Explanation:

Step1: Recall slope formula

The slope $m$ between two points $(x_1,y_1)$ and $(x_2,y_2)$ is $m=\frac{y_2-y_1}{x_2-x_1}$.
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Part (a)

Step2: Assign values for (a)

Let $(x_1,y_1)=(-9,-5)$ and $(x_2,y_2)=(7,-5)$.

Step3: Calculate slope for (a)

$m=\frac{-5-(-5)}{7-(-9)}=\frac{0}{16}=0$
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Part (b)

Step4: Assign values for (b)

Let $(x_1,y_1)=(5,4)$ and $(x_2,y_2)=(5,-9)$.

Step5: Calculate slope for (b)

$m=\frac{-9-4}{5-5}=\frac{-13}{0}$, which is undefined.

Answer:

(a) slope: $0$
(b) slope: undefined