Oklahoma City Community College Math Lab
All About Slopes
Slope (measures steepness of a line) = =
=
ℎ
ℎ
=
2
−
1
2
−
1
Types of Slopes
Slopes come in 4 different types: negative, positive, zero, and undefined.
Negative Slope
Line goes downward to the right
as x increases.
m < 0
Positive Slope
Line goes upward to the right
as x increases.
m > 0
Oklahoma City Community College Math Lab
Finding Rate of Change
The slope of a line can also be interpreted as the “average rate of change”.
It tells us how fast y is changing with respect to x.
The slope of a graph is a rate of change:
Zero Slope
A horizontal line has a
slope of zero.
m = 0
For any two points, the y values
will be equal to the same real
number. The equation will be
y = some number.
Undefined Slope
A vertical line has an
undefined slope.
m is undefined
For any two point, the x values
will be equal to the same real
number. The equation will be
x = some number.
