A line with a slope of 2 and a line with a slope of -4 each have a y-intercept of 6. What is the distance between the x-intercepts of these lines?
A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.
Solution
The line with a slope of 2 and y-intercept 6 has equation y=2x+6. To find its x-intercept, we set y=0 to obtain 0=2x+6 or 2x=−6, which gives x=−3. The line with a slope of -4 and y-intercept 6 has equation y=−4x+6. To find its x-intercept, we set y=0 to obtain 0=−4x+6 or 4x=6, which gives x=46=23. The distance between the points on the x-axis with coordinates (−3,0) and (23,0) is 3+23 which equals 26+23 or 29.
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