Week 4 · Readings & resources

Week 4 — Readings & Resources

College Algebra Free sample edition

Your primary reading is Chapter 4 (in this module). Everything below is the optional, go-deeper layer — pick what helps, skip the rest.

How to use this page

This page has 10 items (4 readings and 6 videos). Allow 57–68 minutes for everything. Each group points back to the matching chapter section and class-session segment, so use the full menu when you want more practice, or take the quick path below.

Every video here has captions: turn them on with the CC button in the player. The chapter covers the same ideas in text.

Pick-one quick path (19–22 min total)

① How steep is it, and which way does it go? Slope as rise over run

Chapter 4, Section “Measure steepness: slope as rise over run” · Session 1, Segment 2, “Slope as rise over run” · Remember: put the change in y on top and the change in x on the bottom, and keep the two points in the same order.

Finding the Slope of a Line — Patrick J — the basic idea of slope, then two worked examples of finding it from two points; watch it if you want the whole idea demonstrated once before you try the formula yourself. (video, 7 min) (captions: automatic)
Ex: Determine the Slope a Line Given Two Points on a Horizontal and Vertical Line — Mathispower4u — two short examples that show why a flat line gets slope 0 and a straight-up line gets an undefined slope. (video, 4 min) (captions: creator)
The Slope of a Straight Line — Purplemath — a step-by-step page on finding slope from two points with the formula, with several worked pairs that include negative coordinates; this first page is enough for this week. (reading, 6–9 min)

② Which number is the slope? Slope-intercept, point-slope, and standard form

Chapter 4, Section “Read a line's equation: slope-intercept form” · Session 1, Segment 3, “Slope-intercept and point-slope form” · Remember: in y = mx + b the slope is the number multiplying x, and the y-intercept is the number standing alone.

Slope Intercept Form Y=mx+b — The Organic Chemistry Tutor — how to read the slope and the y-intercept from an equation and graph the line from them, with several examples in a row. This builds on Week 3's work with function notation, since y = mx + b is a function of x. (video, 9 min) (captions: automatic)
Ex: Find The Equation of the Line in Point-Slope and Slope Intercept Form Given Two Points — Mathispower4u — one complete example of the two-step move: find the slope from two points, then write the line in point-slope form and solve for y. (video, 4 min) (captions: creator)
Graphing Linear Functions by Finding X,Y Intercepts — Patrick J — two worked examples of setting x to 0 and then y to 0 to find the intercepts and draw the line through them. (video, 8 min) (captions: automatic)
Equation of a Straight Line — Math is Fun — the gentlest page here, with a graph you can explore; it calls slope the gradient, and it covers the vertical-line case. Use it while working through the Week-4 module overview. (reading, 6–9 min)

③ Do they meet at a square corner? Parallel and perpendicular lines

Chapter 4, Section “Compare two lines: parallel and perpendicular” · Session 2, Segment 6, “Parallel and perpendicular lines” · Remember: parallel lines share a slope, and perpendicular slopes multiply to negative 1.

How To Tell If Two Lines Are Parallel, Perpendicular, or Neither? — The Organic Chemistry Tutor — a quick set of line pairs sorted by their slopes, with practice problems to pause and try. (video, 4 min) (captions: automatic)
Coordinate System and Graphing Lines, including Inequalities — Math Hints — read only the Parallel and Perpendicular Lines section: equal slopes for parallel lines, negative reciprocal slopes for perpendicular ones, and two worked problems that write a parallel and a perpendicular line through a given point. Stop here before systems of equations; next week takes that up. (reading, 6–9 min)

Optional one-stop reference (free online reference)

Slope — Wolfram MathWorld — a mathematics encyclopedia's entry on slope; read the opening definition as the change in y over the change in x and the short note on the letter m, and skip the later formulas, which belong to calculus. (reading, 3–5 min)

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell your instructor and use the reference above in the meantime.

Provenance: Built with The Course Maker · samples.thecoursemaker.com