Unit 8: LINEAR FUNCTIONS

This unit will show you how to:

• Recognize that equations of the form y = mx + n have straight line graphs

• Plot straight line graphs given a linear equation
• Recognize and understand the form of equations corresponding to
horizontal, vertical and diagonal line graphs
• Find the gradient and y-axis intercept of straight line graphs
• Form linear functions, using the corresponding graphs to solve real-life
problems

Keywords
Linear Constant
Diagonal Gradient (slope)
Horizontal Raise
Intersect Run
Vertical y-intercept
Coefficient Parallel

8.1.- STRAIGHT LINE GRAPHS

Example 1: Davina buys some euros for a trip to France. The exchange rate is
£1 = €1.60. She draws a conversion graph to help her convert prices. First she
draws up a table with some values:

Pounds (x) 0 10 20 30 40
Euros (y) 0 16 32 48 64

This point represents

£10 = €16

The function that converts pounds in euros is: y = 1.60x .

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Example 2: Suppose you have a mobile phone. You pay £10 line rental each
month, then 50 p for every minute you spend making calls.

Time on calls in minutes (x) 0 1 2 3 4

Price of calls in pounds 0 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00
Line Rental (£) 10 10 10 10 10
Total cost in pounds (y) 10 10.50 11 11.50 12

To get the total cost, you add £10 (the line rental) to the call cost. The call cost
is the number of minutes on the phone multiplied by 50. Hence,

Total cos t = 0.50 × time on phone + 10 ⇒ y = 0.5x + 10

Any function of the form y = mx + c is called a linear function. Its graph is a

straight line.

Examples: y = 2x + 3 , y = 2x , y =1

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 • Linear functions in which c = 0 , that is, y = mx , are called proportionality
functions. The variable “y” is directly proportional to “x”. The constant
y
ratio, m = , is called proportionality constant (or constant of
x
proportionality). Their graphs pass through the point ( 0, 0 ) .

Examples: y = 1.60x , y = 5x

• Linear functions in which m = 0 , that is, y = c , are called constant

functions. Their graphs are horizontal lines.

Example: y = 1

The y-coordinate of
every point on this
horizontal line is 1

The x-coordinate
can have any value

Up to now, you have seen diagonal and horizontal lines.

• Diagonal lines have equations of the form y = mx + c , where m ≠ 0 .

• Horizontal lines have equations of the form y = c .
But there is another kind of straight lines: vertical lines.

The x-coordinate of
every point on this
vertical line is 2

The y-coordinate
can have any value

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Notice that vertical lines are not functions, because there are infinite values
of “y” corresponding the same value of “x”.

Vertical lines have equations of the form x = c .

Exercise 1

Which of these equations have straight line graphs?

y = 2x + 3 y = 7 − 3x y = x2 + 1 y = 5x
y=7 y = 2x − x3 2x + 7y = 8 x = −2

Exercise 2

Copy and complete the table, deciding if each equation is that of a horizontal,
vertical or diagonal line, or none of these.

x=9 y = 2x − 1 x = −0.5 y = x2 + x

xy = 1 y=0 y = −x + 3 y=7

Horizontal Vertical Diagonal None of these

Exercise 3

Match each line with its equation.

y = −2 y = −x + 1 x = 2.5 x = −2 y = 0.75 y = 3x − 2

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Exercise 4

a) Give the equations of four lines which, when plotted, form the sides of a
rectangle.
b) Repeat part a) for a square.
c) Repeat part a) for an isosceles right-angled triangle.

8.2.- GRADIENTS AND INTERCEPTS

The gradient (or slope) of a straight line tells you how steep it is.

To work out the gradient find how many units the line rises for each unit it runs
across the page.

This line has a negative

gradient –it slopes down
from left to right.

This line has a positive

gradient –it slopes up
from left to right.

For the line y = 2x − 2 , For the line y = -3x + 4 ,

rise 2 rise −3
gradient = = =2 gradient = = = -3
run 1 run 1

The gradient is the coefficient of x (the number of xs) in the equation of

the line.

- Straight lines with positive gradient are increasing functions.

- Straight lines with negative gradient are decreasing functions.
- The gradient of constant functions is 0.

The intercept is the distance from the origin to where the line cuts the y-axis.

The line y = 2x − 2 cuts the y-axis at ( 0, − 2 ) . The y-intercept is −2 .

The line y = −3x + 4 cuts the y-axis at ( 0, 4 ) . The y-intercept is 4.

The intercept is the constant term (the number) in the equation of the line.

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Example: Find the gradient and intercept of the lines

a) y = −5x + 2 b) y = −2 c) y = 7x d) 3x + 2y = 12

a) gradient = −5 , int ercept = 2

b) gradient = 0 , int ercept = −2
c) gradient = 7 , int ercept = 0
d) The equation is not in the form y = mx + c , so rearrange it first:
−3x + 12 3
3x + 2y = 12 ⇒ 2y = −3x + 12 ⇒ y = ⇒ y = − x+6
2 2
3
Now you can see that the gradient is − and the intercept is 6.
2

How to calculate the gradient of a line if you know two points of it?

rise change in y
gradient = =
run change in x

The gradient of the line joining

P ( x1 , y1 ) and Q ( x2, y2 ) is:
y2 − y1
gradient =
x2 − x1

The gradient is denoted by m.

Example: The gradient of the line joining P ( −3, 2 ) and Q ( 5, 1 ) is:

1−2 −1
m= =
5 − ( −3 ) 8

Since the gradient of a straight line tells you how steep it is, parallel lines will
have the same gradient.

Example: Find the equation of a line parallel to y = 0.2x + 3 .

The line y = 0.2x + 3 has gradient 0.2.

A line that is parallel to it will have
the same gradient.
So, y = 0.2x + 1 is parallel to the line
y = 0.2x + 3 .

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8.3.- THE EQUATION y = mx + c
You can write the equation of any straight line in the form y = mx + c
For example: x + y = 5 ⇒ y = − x + 5
4x − y = 6 ⇒ y = 4x − 6
The gradient of the line y = mx + c is m. m is the coefficient of x

The y-axis intercept of the line y = mx + c is c. c is the constant (number)

Example: What are the gradient and intercept of each of these lines?

a) y = 2x + 5 b) y = 1 − 3x

a) y = 2x + 5 ⇒ m = 2, c=5 b) y = 1 − 3x ⇒ m = −3, c=1

Exercise 5

Match each line with its equation.

y = 4x − 2 y = 3x + 1 y=x y = 2 − 4x

Exercise 6

Find the gradient and the intercept of these graphs. Write the equation of each
line.

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Exercise 7

Write the equation of a straight line that is parallel to y = 7 − 2x and cuts the
y-axis at (0, 3).

8.4.- FINDING THE EQUATION OF A STRAIGHT LINE GRAPH

If you know the gradient of a line and the y-axis intercept you can write the
equation of the line.

Example: What is the equation of a line with gradient 9 passing through (0, 5)?

Gradient = 9 and int ercept = 5 , so the equation of the line is y = 9x + 5 .

If you know the gradient and a point on the line you can find the equation of
the line.

Example: What is the equation of a line with gradient 8 that passes through the
point (2, 7)?

Gradient = 9 , so the equation of the line is y = 8x + c .

The line goes through (2, 7) so,
7 = 8 ⋅ 2 + c (Put x = 2 and y = 7 in the equation y = 8x + c )
7 = 16 + c ⇒ c = −9
The equation of the line is y = 8x − 9

If you know two points on a line you can find the equation of the line.

Example: Find the equation of the line joining (1, 2) and (4, 3).

rise 3 − 2 1
gradient = = =
run 4 − 1 3

The line goes through (1, 2) so

substitute 1 for x and 2 for y in
1
y = x + c.
3
1 1 5
2 = ⋅1 + c ⇒ 2 = + c ⇒ c =
3 3 3

1 5
The equation is y = x+ .
3 3

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Exercise 8

Find the equations of the nine lines described in the table.

a) Gradient of 7 and b) Gradient of 0.5 and c) Parallel to a line with

intercepts y-axis at passes through (0, 3) gradient 4 and passing
(0,5) through (3, 8)

d) Gradient of 3 and e) Gradient of -2 and 1

f) Parallel to y = x − 1 and
passing through (4, 7) cutting through (4, -3) 4
passing through (0, -2)

g) Passing through (0, 1) h) Passing through (0, 2) i) Passing through the

and (1, 5) and (5, 7) midpoint of (1, 7) and (3, 13)
with a gradient of 8

Exercise 9

Where does the line 2y = 9x − 5 cross

a) the y-axis b) the x-axis c) the line 4y = x + 24

8.4.- LINEAR GRAPHS IN REAL LIFE

You can use a graph to represent a real-life situation. Remember the examples 1
and 2 at the beginning of the unit.

Let’s see some more examples:

I) Plot a graph to represent the total cost of hiring a party venue, if the owner
charges £100 hire fee and £5 per guest. Use the graph to estimate the number
of guests if the total bill is £285.

If x is the number of guests and y is the cost (£s), then y = 5x + 100

Draw a horizontal line from

£285 to the graph.
Draw a vertical line from the
graph to the vertical axis.

For cost of £285, number

of guests = 37 .

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You can also get the number of guests by using the analytical expression of the
function: y = 5x + 100 .

If y = 285 ⇒ 285 = 5x + 100 ⇒ 5x = 185 ⇒ x = 37

II) Two competing electricity companies use these formulae to work out
customers’ bills.

POWER UP! SPARKS ARE US!

y = 3x + 5 y = 2x + 15

The number of units of electricity used is x. The price of the electricity is £y.

Using graphs, compare the pricing policies of the two companies and advise
householders from which company they should buy their electricity.

The graphs show that, from 0 to 10 units of electricity used, the company
POWER UP! is cheaper than the company SPARKS ARE US!. However, if the
units used are more than 10, the cheapest company is SPARKS ARE US!.

Exercise 10

A 500-liter tank full of oil is being drained at the

constant rate of 20 liters par minute.

a) Write a linear function V for the number of liters

in the tank after t minutes (assuming that the
drainage started at t = 0 ).
b) Find the V and the t intercepts and interpret
them.
c) How many liters are in the tank after 11 minutes
and 45 seconds?

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Exercise 11

Pauline and her family are going on holiday and

exchange £400 spending money into euros (€)
before they go.

At the bank, the exchange rate is £1 = €1.45.

a) Construct a graph that the family can take on holiday to convert any
amount of their spending money from pounds to euros or vice versa.
b) Use the graph to find
i. the cost, in euros, of a side trip which is advertised for £95
ii. the cost, in pounds, of a meal in a restaurant that comes to €85.

Exercise 12

The melting point of the ice is 0°C (or 32°F) and the boiling point of the water is
100°C (or 212°F).

a) Write a linear function that converts any temperature from Celsius

degrees (°C) to Fahrenheit degrees (°F).
b) Draw the graph of this function.
c) Complete the table below:

Reykjavik Oslo Paris Madrid Sydney

-2°C __°C 6°C __°C 24°C

__°F 35.6°F __°F 53.6°F __°F

Exercise 13

The charges of two car-hire companies are:

Company 1: 50 € hire fee and 0.2 €

per covered kilometre.

Company 2: 20 € hire fee and 0.3 €

per covered kilometre.

a) Express the charge of the companies as functions of the covered

kilometres.
b) Draw both graphs in the same x and y-axes. Use them to find which
company is the most advantageous for the costumers.

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