Question

A student is asked to find the slope of the line joining (-3, 2) and (1, -4). He states that the slope is $\frac{3}{2}$. Is he correct? If not, what went wrong?

Short answer

No. he is incorrect the slope of the line is$-\frac{3}{2}$

Step-by-step solution

Given information

The given points are$A(-3,2),B(1,-4)$

Find the slope

We get,

$$\begin{gathered} Slope=\frac{-4-2}{1-(-3)} \\ Slope=\frac{-6}{4} \\ Slope=-\frac{3}{2} \end{gathered}$$

Conclusion

No he is not correct. he did not consider the negative sign occured during the calculation. The slope of the line passing through the given point is$-\frac{3}{2}$.