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Lines & Linear Systems

The straight line is the first graph you ever meet — and the one every other graph is built from. Slide its slope and intercept, drop in a second line, and find exactly where they cross. Grade 9–10.

Two numbers describe a line

Every non-vertical line is just y = m·x + b. The slope m is how steep it is — rise over run, how far y climbs each time x moves one step right. The intercept b is where the line crosses the y-axis. Change those two numbers and you can draw any straight line there is.

m = riserun = ΔyΔx   ·   b = the height where x = 0

Tilt it, slide it, cross it 📈

Drag the round dot to tilt a line; drag the square dot to slide it up and down. Switch on a second line to make a system — the crossing point is the solution. Or flip to Two points for slope, distance and midpoint.

Two lines, one question

A pair of lines is a system of equations, and "solving" it just means finding the point that sits on both lines at once:

One solution

Different slopes → the lines cross exactly once. That crossing point (x, y) is the one pair of numbers that makes both equations true.

None, or infinitely many

Same slope, different intercept → parallel, they never meet, no solution. Same slope and intercept → it's the same line, so every point is a solution.

Between two points

Switch to Two points mode and drag A and B. The same rise-over-run gives the slope; the straight-line distance is the Pythagorean theorem in disguise √(Δx² + Δy²); and the midpoint is simply the average of the coordinates — the exact halfway mark, marked in purple.

Ready for curves? A line is the simplest function; bend it and you get a parabola, or explore stretching and sliding any graph in the Function Transformer. Back to the Functions hub.