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SAT Math : Perpendicular Lines

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Example Question #52 : Coordinate Geometry

Which of the following is NOT perpendicular to y=3x+9 ?

Possible Answers:

-3x=3y+27

$y=\frac{1}{3}+2$

-3x=3y+18

$y=-\frac{1}{3}x-2$

$y=-\frac{1}{3}x-9$

Correct answer:

$y=\frac{1}{3}+2$

Explanation:

Parallel lines have slopes that are opposite reciprocals. Any line perpendicular to y=3x+9 must have a slope of $-\frac{1}{3}$ . The only line that doesn't have this slope is $y=\frac{1}{3}+2$ , which has a slope of $\frac{1}{3}$ .

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Example Question #51 : Coordinate Geometry

A vertical line is drawn to connect the x-axis and point (2,1) . What must be the equation of the perpendicular line that connects to this point?

Possible Answers:

y=1

x=1

x+y=0

x=2

x+y=1

Correct answer:

y=1

Explanation:

The given key word is vertical. If a perpendicular line that intersects the vertical line, the slope must be zero, and the line would be a horizontal line. The horizontal line will intersect the point at (2,1) , which means that the y-value will never change.

The answer is: y=1

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Example Question #54 : Coordinate Geometry

Which of the following is perpendicular to the line $y = \frac{4}{3}x + \frac{5}{6}$ ?

Possible Answers:

$y = -\frac{3}{4}x + 2$

$y = \frac{3}{4}x + \frac{5}{6}$

y=x

None of the given answers

$y = \frac{4}{3}x + \frac{7}{8}$

Correct answer:

$y = -\frac{3}{4}x + 2$

Explanation:

First, we want to identify the slope of our given line. In slope-intercept form, a line's slope is the coefficient of .

y=mx+b

The slope of our given line is $\frac{4}{3}$ .

Now, we can start to find the perpendicular line. Remember that in order for two lines to be perpendicular, their slopes must be negative reciprocals of each other.

In this case, we want to find a line whose slope is the negative reciprocal of $\frac{4}{3}$ . So, we want a line whose slope is $-\frac{3}{4}$ .

With this in mind, the only answer choice with a slope of $-\frac{3}{4}$ is $y = -\frac{3}{4}x + 2$ .

Therefore, the perpendicular line is $y = -\frac{3}{4}x + 2$ .

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Example Question #11 : How To Find The Equation Of A Perpendicular Line

Which of the following equations represents a line that goes through the point (-2, 6) and is perpendicular to the line 3x + 6y = 12 ?

Possible Answers:

y = -2x + 10

y = 2x + 10

y = 2x + 2

y = 2x + 6

y = -2x + 2

Correct answer:

y = 2x + 10

Explanation:

In order to solve this problem, we need first to transform the equation from standard form to slope-intercept form:

y = mx + b

Transform the original equation to find its slope.

3x + 6y = 12

First, subtract from both sides of the equation.

3x-3x + 6y = 12-3x

Simplify and rearrange.

6y = -3x + 12

Next, divide both sides of the equation by 6.

$\frac{6y}{6} = -\frac{3x}{6} + \frac{12}{6}$

$y = -\frac{1}{2}x+ 2$

The slope of our first line is equal to $-\frac{1}{2}$ . Perpendicular lines have slopes that are opposite reciprocals of each other; therefore, if the slope of one is x, then the slope of the other is equal to the following:

$-\frac{1}{x}$

Let's calculate the opposite reciprocal of our slope:

$-\frac{1}{2}\rightarrow -\left (-\frac{2}{1} \right )=2$

The slope of our line is equal to 2. We now have the following partial equation:

y = 2x + b

We are missing the y-intercept, . Substitute the x- and y-values in the given point (-2, 6) to solve for the missing y-intercept.

6 = 2(-2) + b

6 = -4 + b

Add 4 to both sides of the equation.

6+4 = -4+4 + b

10 = b

Substitute this value into our partial equation to construct the equation of our line:

y = 2x + 10

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Example Question #1 : How To Find The Equation Of A Perpendicular Line

What is the equation of a line that runs perpendicular to the line 2x + y = 5 and passes through the point (2,7)?

Possible Answers:

2x + y = 7

2x – y = 6

x/2 – y = 6

x/2 + y = 5

–x/2 + y = 6

Correct answer:

–x/2 + y = 6

Explanation:

First, put the equation of the line given into slope-intercept form by solving for y. You get y = -2x +5, so the slope is –2. Perpendicular lines have opposite-reciprocal slopes, so the slope of the line we want to find is 1/2. Plugging in the point given into the equation y = 1/2x + b and solving for b, we get b = 6. Thus, the equation of the line is y = ½x + 6. Rearranged, it is –x/2 + y = 6.

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Example Question #51 : Coordinate Geometry

Two points on line m are (3,7) and (-2, 5). Line k is perpendicular to line m. What is the slope of line k?

Possible Answers:

-5

-5/2

2/5

Correct answer:

-5/2

Explanation:

The slope of line m is the (y₂ - y₁) / (x₂- x₁) = (5-7) / (-2 - 3)

= -2 / -5

= 2/5

To find the slope of a line perpendicular to a given line, we must take the negative reciprocal of the slope of the given line.

Thus the slope of line k is the negative reciprocal of 2/5 (slope of line m), which is -5/2.

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Example Question #51 : Psat Mathematics

The equation of a line is: 8x + 16y = 48

What is the slope of a line that runs perpendicular to that line?

Possible Answers:

-1/4

-1/8

-2

Correct answer:

Explanation:

First, solve for the equation of the line in the form of y = mx + b so that you can determine the slope, m of the line:

8x + 16y = 48

16y = -8x + 48

y = -(8/16)x + 48/16

y = -(1/2)x + 3

Therefore the slope (or m) = -1/2

The slope of a perpendicular line is the negative inverse of the slope.

m = - (-2/1) = 2

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Example Question #64 : Coordinate Geometry

Screen_shot_2013-09-04_at_10.56.34_am

What is the equation of a line perpendicular to the one above, passing through the point (2,2) ?

Possible Answers:

$y=\frac{1}{3}x+\frac{4}{3}$

$y=-\frac{1}{3}x+\frac{8}{3}$

$y=-\frac{1}{2}x+3$

$y=-\frac{4}{3}x+2$

$y=\frac{4}{3}x-2$

Correct answer:

$y=-\frac{1}{3}x+\frac{8}{3}$

Explanation:

Looking at the graph, we can tell the slope of the line is 3 with a $\dpi{100} y$ -intercept of , so the equation of the line is:

$y=3x-4$

A perpendicular line to this would have a slope of $-\frac{1}{3}$ , and would pass through the point (2,2) so it follows:

$y=-\frac{1}{3}x+c\rightarrow 2=-\frac{1}{3}(2)+c\rightarrow c=8/3\rightarrow y=-\frac{1}{3}x+\frac{8}{3}$

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Example Question #61 : Coordinate Geometry

Line M passes through the points (2,2) and (3,–5). Which of the following is perpendicular to line M?

Possible Answers:

y = –(1/7)x – 1

y = (1/7)x + 3

y = 7x – 6

y = –7x – 5

y = 7x + 4

Correct answer:

y = (1/7)x + 3

Explanation:

First we find the slope of line M by using the slope formula (y₂– y₁)/(x₂– x₁).

(–5 – 2)/(3 – 2) = –7/1. This means the slope of Line M is –7. A line perpendicular to Line M will have a negative reciprocal slope. Thus, the answer is y = (1/7)x + 3.

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Example Question #66 : Coordinate Geometry

Tangent_line

Figure not drawn to scale.

In the figure above, a circle is centered at point C and a line is tangent to the circle at point B. What is the equation of the line?

Possible Answers:

2x + 5y = -1

5x + 2y = 29

2x - 5y = 29

x + y = 4

5x - 2y = 41

Correct answer:

5x + 2y = 29

Explanation:

We know that the line passes through point B, but we must calculate its slope in order to find the equation that defines the line. Because the line is tangent to the circle, it must make a right angle with the radius of the circle at point B. Therefore, the slope of the line is perpendicular to the slope of the radius that connects the center of the circle to point B. First, we can find the slope of the radius, and then we can determine the perpendicular slope.

The radius passes through points C and B. We can use the formula for the slope (represented as ) between two points to find the slope of the radius.

Point C: (2,-5) and point B: (7,-3)

$m_{rad}=\frac{y_2-y_1}{x_2-x_1}=\frac{-3-(-5)}{7-2}$

$m_{rad}=\frac{2}{5}$

This is the slope of the radius, but we need to find the slope of the line that is perpendicular to the radius. This value will be equal to the negative reciprocal.

$m=-\frac{1}{m_{rad}}=-\frac{1}{\frac{2}{5}}=-\frac{5}{2}$

Now we know the slope of the tangent line. We can use the point-slope formula to find the equation of the line. The formula is shown below.

y-y_1=m(x-x_1)

Plug in the give point that lies on the tangent line (point B) and simplify the equation.

$y-(-3)=-\frac{5}{2}(x-7)$

Multiply both sides by two in order to remove the fraction.

2(y -(-3)) = -5(x -7)

2(y + 3) = -5(x - 7)

Distribute both sides.

2y + 6 = -5x + 35

Add to both sides.

5x + 2y + 6 = 35

Subtract six from both sides.

5x + 2y = 29

The answer is 5x + 2y = 29 .

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SAT Math : Perpendicular Lines

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT Math

All SAT Math Resources

Example Questions

Example Question #52 : Coordinate Geometry

Example Question #51 : Coordinate Geometry

Example Question #54 : Coordinate Geometry

Example Question #11 : How To Find The Equation Of A Perpendicular Line

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Equation Of A Perpendicular Line

Example Question #51 : Coordinate Geometry

Example Question #51 : Psat Mathematics

Example Question #64 : Coordinate Geometry

Example Question #61 : Coordinate Geometry

Example Question #66 : Coordinate Geometry

All SAT Math Resources

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