Math Help - Equation of line

1. Equation of line

Find the equation of the line through M (-1,2) with gradient m if M is the midpoint of the intercepts of the x axis and y axis

equation of line = y - y1 = m ( x - x1)

what next I am confused with the midpoint of axis.

Thanks

2. Hello Joel,
your line passes through the point $M (-1, 2)$, so you know that $2 = -m + p$ (using the standard equation $y = mx + p$)
Now, let $x_1$ be the intercept of the y-axis, and $y_1$ be the intercept of the x-axis. Then we have $M \left (\frac{x_1}{2}, \frac{y_1}{2} \right )$. Thus we have $x_1 = -2$ and $y_1 = 4$. Since these are intercepts, we can get some more information :

$0 = -2m + p$ (using $y = mx + p$)

Now recover the equation we found first :

$2 = -m + p$

Solving the two equations simultaneously :

$\left \{
\begin{array}{l}
0 = -2m + p \\
2 = -m + p
\end{array}
\right.$

$\left \{
\begin{array}{l}
2m = p \\
2 = -m + p
\end{array}
\right.$

$\left \{
\begin{array}{l}
2m = p \\
2 = -m + 2m
\end{array}
\right.$

$\left \{
\begin{array}{l}
2m = p \\
2 = m
\end{array}
\right.$

$\left \{
\begin{array}{l}
4 = p \\
2 = m
\end{array}
\right.$

$\left \{
\begin{array}{l}
p = 4 \\
m = 2
\end{array}
\right.$

And the equation of the line follows : $\boxed{y = 2x + 4}$

Plotting this line indeed shows that it passes through $M(-1, 2)$, and that this point is exactly midpoint between the x-intercept and y-intercept of the line

Don't hesitate to reply if anything seems confusing.

3. Hi bacterius,
After reading your first paragraph I accepted this as your proof of the x and y intercepts of the required line ie that the x intercept is -2 and y intercept is 4. So immediately y=2x+4. Was it necessary to go further. I did it by taking a straight edge and rotating it about M so that M was the midpoint between the x and y axis

bjh

4. Indeed, this is a shortcut, since we know the y-intercept we immediately know $p$, then we can use the point M (not the x-intercept, sorry typo) to solve for $m$, the gradient. I just did it the long way, I'm glad you noticed it was possible to go faster