How to find whether lines are perpendicular - SSAT Upper Level Quantitative

Card 1 of 52

0
Didn't Know
Knew It
0
1 of 2019 left
Question

Three lines are drawn on the coordinate plane.

The green line has slope , and -intercept .

The blue line has slope , and -intercept .

The red line has slope , and -intercept .

Which two lines are perpendicular to each other?

Tap to reveal answer

Answer

To demonstrate two perpendicular lines, multiply their slopes; if their product is , then the lines are perpendicular (the -intercepts are irrelevant).

The products of these lines are given here.

Blue and green lines:

Red and green lines:

Blue and red lines:

It is the blue and red lines that are perpendicular.

We can also see that their slopes are negative reciprocals, indicating perpendicular lines.

← Didn't Know|Knew It →