E. Equations of a Straight Line

The general equation of a straight line is y = mx + c, where m is the slope of the line and c is the y-intercept. It is the most common form of the equation of a straight line that is used in geometry. The equation of a straight line can be written in different forms such as point-slope form, slope-intercept form, general form, standard form, etc. A straight line is a two-dimensional geometrical entity that extends on both its ends till infinity.

In this article, we will explore the concept of the equation of a straight line. We will try to understand the general equation of a line, straight-line formula, the way of finding the equation of a straight line, and discover other interesting aspects of it. Try your hands at solving a few interesting examples and questions for a better understanding of the concept.

What is the Equation of Straight Line?

The equation of a straight line is a mathematical equation that gives the relation between the coordinate points lying on that straight line. It can be written in different forms and tells the slope, x-intercept, and y-intercept of the line. The most commonly used forms of the equation of straight line are y = mx + c and ax + by = c. Some other forms are point-slope form, slope-intercept form, general form, standard form, etc. Let us go through the formula for the equation of a straight line:

Equation of Straight Line Formula

A straight line is a figure formed when two points A (x₁, y₁) and B (x₂, y₂) are connected with minimum distance between them, and both the ends extended to infinity. The standard form of a linear equation with variables x and y is:

ax + by = c, where a, b, c are constants and x, y are variables.