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Straight Lines: Various Forms of The Equation of A Line

The document discusses various forms of the equation of a straight line. It presents the equations for horizontal and vertical lines, lines in point-slope form, two-point form, slope-intercept form, intercept form, and normal form. Examples are provided for each form to demonstrate how to derive the line equation given certain known properties like slope, intercepts, or a normal distance and angle from the origin.

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Sowjanya Vemulapalli
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67 views

Straight Lines: Various Forms of The Equation of A Line

The document discusses various forms of the equation of a straight line. It presents the equations for horizontal and vertical lines, lines in point-slope form, two-point form, slope-intercept form, intercept form, and normal form. Examples are provided for each form to demonstrate how to derive the line equation given certain known properties like slope, intercepts, or a normal distance and angle from the origin.

Uploaded by

Sowjanya Vemulapalli
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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STRAIGHT LINES

Various Forms of the Equation of a Line:


Horizontal and vertical lines If a horizontal line L is at a distance a from the x-axis
then ordinate of every point lying on the line is either a or – a [Fig 10.11 (a)].
Therefore, equation of the line L is either y = a or y = – a. Choice of sign will
depend upon the position of the line according as the line is above or below the y-
axis. Similarly, the equation of a vertical line at a distance b from the x-axis is either
x = b or x = – b [Fig 10.11(b)].

Fig 10.11

Point -slope form Suppose that P0 (x0, y0)

is a fixed point on a non-vertical line L,


whose slope is m. Let P (x, y) be an
arbitrary point on L (Fig 10.13).
Then, by the definition, the slope of L is

given by y  y0 , i.e., y  y0  m x 
x0

m
x  x0
...(1)
Since the point P0 (x0 , y0) along with all points (x, y) on L
satisfies (1) and no other point in the plane satisfies (1). Equation
Fig 10.13
(1) is indeed the equation for the given line L.
Thus, the point (x, y) lies on the line with slope m through the fixed point (x0,
y0), if and only if, its coordinates satisfy
the equation y – y0 = m (x – x0)

Two-point form Let the line L passes


through two given points P1 (x1, y1)
and P2 (x2, y2). Let P (x, y) be a general
point on L (Fig 10.14).
The three points P1, P2 and P are Fig 10.14
collinear, therefore, we have slope of P1P
= slope of P1P2

Thus, equation of the line passing


through the points (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) is
given by

y- )
Slope-intercept form Sometimes a line is known to us with its slope and an intercept
on one of the axes. We will now find equations of such lines.
Case I Suppose a line L with slope m cuts the y-axis at a distance c from the origin
(Fig10.15). The distance c is called the y-
intercept of the line L. Obviously,
coordinates of the point where the line
meet the y-axis are (0, c). Thus, L has
slope m and passes through a fixed point
(0, c). Therefore, by point-slope form,
the equation of L is y  c  m( x  0 )
or y  mx  c Thus, the point (x, y) on
the line with slope
m and y-intercept c lies on the line if and Fig 10.15 only if
y  mx  c
Note that the value of c will be positive or negative according as the intercept is made
on the positive or negative side of the y-axis, respectively.
Case II Suppose line L with slope m makes x-intercept d. Then equation of L is
y  m(x  d ) ... (4)

Intercept - form Suppose a line L makes x-intercept a and y-intercept b on the axes.
Obviously L meets x-axis at the point
(a, 0) and y-axis at the point (0, b) (Fig .
10.16). By two-point form of the equation
of the line, we have
0
y0b (x  a) or ay  bx  ab ,
0a
x y
i.e.,   1.
a b

Thus, equation of the line making intercepts Fig 10.16 a


and b on x-and y-axis, respectively, is x y
1a
b

Normal form Suppose a non-vertical line is known to us with following data:


(i) Length of the perpendicular (normal) from origin to the line.
(ii) Angle which normal makes with the positive direction of x-axis.
Let L be the line, whose perpendicular distance from origin O be OA = p and
the angle between the positive x-axis and OA be XOA = . The possible positions
of line L in the Cartesian plane are shown in the Fig 10.17. Now, our purpose is to
find slope of L and a point on it. Draw perpendicular AM on the x-axis in each case.

Fig 10.17

In each case, we have OM = p


cos  and MA = p sin , so that the coordinates of the point A are (p cos , p sin ).
Further, line L is perpendicular to OA. Therefore
1 1 cos ω
The slope of the line L =    .
slope of OA tan ω sin ω

Thus, the line L has slope 


cosω
and point A p cosω, p sin ωon it.
Therefore, by sin ω
point-slope form, the equation of the line L
is y  p sin ω   cos ω xp
cos ω  or sin ω
or x cos  + y sin  = p.
x cos ω  y sin ω  p(sin 2ω  cos2ω)
Hence, the equation of the line having normal distance p from the origin and angle 
which the normal makes with the positive direction of x-axis is given by
x cos  + y sin  = p ... (6)
Example: Find the equation of the line whose perpendicular distance from the
origin is 4 units and the angle which the normal makes with positive direction of x-
axis is 15°.
Solution Here, we are given p = 4 and
 = 150 (Fig10.18).

31
Now cos 15° =
2 2

and

By the normal form (6) above, the equation of the


line is
Fig 10.18
x cos 15 + y sin 15 = 4 or

(√3 + 1 )x + (√3 – 1) y = 2√2

More Examples:

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