Hi. In this math post, I go over determining linear functions from a table of values.
Topics
- The Slope-Intercept Form Of A Line
- Common Difference Of Numbers As Slope
- Examples In Finding The Slope & Y-Intercept For The Equation Of A Line
The Slope-Intercept Form Of A Line
When you have two points, a line can be created that passes these two points. On the Cartesian plane a line has a slope and a y-intercept. When x = 0 the corresponding y-value with x = 0 is the y-intercept. The equation of the line is of the form:
where m
is the slope of the line and b
is the y-intercept.
Common Difference Of Numbers As Slope
The slope of a line can be viewed as rise over run. This rise over run is the change in y-values divided by change in x-values.
From a table a values the slope is also the common difference.
Example
x | y = x + 1 |
---|---|
-2 | -1 |
-1 | 0 |
0 | 1 |
1 | 2 |
2 | 3 |
From the above example, the slope of the line is just 1. As x increases by 1, the value of y increases by 1 each time. The slope would be 1 divided by 1 which is just 1. This value of 1 is the slope which is also the difference in y-values as x increases by 1 each time.
Example Two
Determine the equation of the line from the following table.
x | y |
---|---|
0 | -2 |
1 | 1 |
2 | 4 |
3 | 7 |
4 | 10 |
From here the value of y
goes up by 3 for each 1 unit increase of x
. This value of 3 is the slope for the liine that passes the (x, y)
points from the table of values.
Examples In Finding The Slope & Y-Intercept
There are cases where a y-intercept is not given from a table of values. Let's look at some examples.
Example One
x | y |
---|---|
2 | -3 |
4 | 0 |
6 | 3 |
8 | 6 |
In this table of values we do not have a y-intercept (y-value when x = 0). For every increase of x
by 2 we increase y
by 3. This is a slope of 3 divided by 2.
So far we have the equation of a line as:
To find the y-intercept, we can use a (x, y) pair from the table of values to help solve for the y-intercept represented by b
. I will use the point (4, 0)
as my (x, y)
point.
The equation of the line for the table of values in this example is y = 1.5x - 6
.
Example Two
x | y |
---|---|
1 | 8 |
4 | 2 |
5 | 0 |
10 | -10 |
This table of values does not have equal spacing with the x-values. Do be mindful of this and check that the slope is the same between any two points here. For the purpose of this exercise I have made the table of values such that the slope is the same between any two points.
For computing the slope I use the points (4, 2)
and (5, 0)
.
Now we solve for b
in y = mx + b
. The point (1, 8)
is used for (x, y)
to find b
.
Example Three
I present here a more technical example. Look for how much y goes up by each time x increases by 1. Also the y-intercept is given.
x | y |
---|---|
0 | pi (π) |
1 | 3π |
2 | 5π |
3 | 7π |
4 | 9π |
From this table of values the y-intercept is pi
π. When increases by 1, y increases by 2π. The slope here is 2π.
The equation of the line here is y = 2πx + π
. Desmos screenshot below.