MEI AS Mathematics: Coordinate geometry

Section 1: Points and straight lines

Notes and Examples
These notes contain the following subsections:
Gradients, distances and mid-points
The equation of a straight line
Sketching lines
Finding the equation of a line
Parallel and perpendicular lines
The intersection of two lines

Gradients, distances and mid-points

You will have met gradients before at GCSE. Remember that lines which go “downhill” have
negative gradients.

To find the gradient of a straight line between two points ( x1 , y1 ) and ( x2 , y2 ) , use the
formula
y2 − y1
gradient = .
x2 − x1
The midpoint of a line joining two points ( x1 , y1 ) and ( x2 , y2 ) is given by

 x1 + x2 y1 + y2 
Midpoint =  , 
 2 2 

The x-coordinate of M is
M halfway between x1 and x2 .

The y-coordinate of M is
halfway between y1 and y2 .

The length of a line joining two points ( x1 , y1 ) and ( x2 , y2 ) can be found using Pythagoras’
Theorem.

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 Length
( x2 − x1 ) + ( y2 − y1 )
2 2
=

Example 1
A is the point (2, -6). B is the point (-3, 4).
Calculate
(a) the gradient of AB
(b) the midpoint of AB
(c) the length of AB.

Solution
Choose A as ( x1 , y1 ) and B as ( x2 , y2 ).

You can choose these the other way round and it will give the same answers.

y2 − y1
(a) Gradient of AB =
x2 − x1
4 − (−6)
=
−3 − 2
10
=
−5
= −2

 x1 + x2 y1 + y2 
(b) Midpoint =  , 
 2 2 
 2 + (−3) −6 + 4 
= , 
 2 2 
 1 
=  − , −1
 2 

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 (c) The distance AB is given by
d = ( x1 − x2 )2 + ( y1 − y2 ) 2
= (2 − (−3)) 2 + ((−6) − 4) 2
= (5)2 + (−10)2
= 25 + 100
= 125
Note: The answer is often left like this if the square root is not exact.

However since 125 = 25  5 then 125 = 25 5 = 5 5 is perhaps a simpler form.

The equation of a straight line

The equation of a straight line is often written in the form y = mx + c , where m is the
gradient and c is the intercept with the y-axis.

Example 2
Find the gradient and the y-intercept of the following straight-line equations.
(a) 5 y = 7 x − 3
(b) 3x + 8 y − 7 = 0

Solution
(a) Rearrange the equation into the form y = mx + c .
5 y = 7 x − 3 becomes y = 75 x − 53
so m = 75 and c = − 53
7
The gradient is 5
The y-intercept is − 53 .

(b) Rearrange the equation into the form y = mx + c .

3x + 8 y − 7 = 0 becomes 8 y = −3x + 7
giving y = − 83 x + 78
so m = − 83 and c = 7
8
The gradient is − 83
The y-intercept is 7
8 .

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Sketching lines
Sometimes you may need to sketch the graph of a line. A sketch is a simple diagram
showing the line in relation to the origin. It should also show the coordinates of the points
where it cuts one or both axes.

Example 3
Sketch the lines
(a) 5 y = 7 x − 3

(b) 3x + 8 y − 7 = 0

Solution
(a) From the previous example you know that 5 y = 7 x − 3 has gradient 7
5 and
y-intercept − 53 .

This means the line goes through ( 0, − 53 ) which is below the origin.
When y = 0 , 7 x − 3 = 0 so x = 3
7

This means the line goes through the point ( 73 ,0)

The gradient is positive so the line

slopes to the right as expected

(b) From the previous example you know that 3x + 8 y − 7 = 0 has gradient − 83 and
y-intercept 78 .

This means the line goes through ( 0, 78 ) which is above the origin.
When y = 0 , 3x − 7 = 0 so x = 7
3

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This means the line goes through the point ( 73 ,0)

The gradient is negative so the line

slopes to the left as expected

Finding the equation of a line

Sometimes you may need to find the equation of a line given certain information about it. If
you are given the gradient and intercept, this is easy: you can simply use the form
y = mx + c . However, more often you will be given the information in a different form, such
as the gradient of the line and the coordinates of one point on the line, or just the
coordinates of two points on the line.
In such cases you can use the alternative form of the equation of a straight line. For a line
with gradient m passing through the point ( x1 , y1 ) , the equation of the line is given by

y − y1 = m ( x − x1 ) .

Example 4
Find the equation of the line with gradient 2 and passing through (3, -1).

Solution
The equation of the line is y − y1 = m ( x − x1 )

m = 2 and ( x1 , y1 ) = (3, −1)

 y − ( −1) = 2 ( x − 3)
 y + 1 = 2x − 6
 y = 2x − 7

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You should check that the point (3, -1) satisfies your line. If it doesn’t, you must have made a mistake!

In the next example, you are given the coordinates of two points on the line.

Example 5
P is the point (3, 8). Q is the point (-1, 5).
Find the equation of PQ.

Solution

One method is to find the gradient and then use this value and one of the points in y − y1 = m ( x − x1 )

Choose P as ( x1 , y1 ) and Q as ( x2 , y2 ) ,.

y2 − y1 5 − 8 −3 3
Gradient of PQ = = = =
x2 − x1 −1 − 3 −4 4

Now use y − y1 = m ( x − x1 ) with m = 3

4 and ( x1 , y1 ) = (3,8)

 y − 8 = 34 ( x − 3)
 4 ( y − 8 ) = 3 ( x − 3)
 4 y − 32 = 3x − 9
 4 y = 3x + 23

You should check that P and Q satisfy your line.

An alternative approach to the above examples is to put the formula for m into the straight
line equation to obtain
y2 − y1
y − y1 = ( x − x1 )
x2 − x1
and then make the substitutions. This is equivalent to the first method, but does not involve
calculating m separately first.

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Parallel and perpendicular lines
If two lines are parallel, they have the same gradient.
If two lines with gradients m1 and m2 are perpendicular, then m1m2 = −1 .

Example 6
P is the point (-3, 7). Q is the point (5, 1).
Calculate
(a) the gradient of PQ
(b) the gradient of a line parallel to PQ which passes through the point (1, 4)
(c) the gradient of a line perpendicular to PQ which passes through the point (2, -1).

Solution
y2 − y1 1− 7 −6 3
(a) Gradient of PQ = = = =−
x2 − x1 5 − (−3) 8 4

(b) When two lines are parallel their gradients are equal.
3
So the gradient of the line parallel to PQ is also − .
4
The line passes through (1, 4).
The equation of the line is y − 4 = − 34 ( x − 1)
4( y − 4) = −3( x − 1)
4 y − 16 = −3x + 3
4 y + 3x = 19

When two lines are perpendicular m1m2 = −1 .

3 4
So − m2 = −1  m2 =
4 3
4
The gradient of a line perpendicular to PQ is .
3
The line passes through the point (2, -1)
The equation of the line is y − (−1) = 43 ( x − 2)
3( y + 1) = 4( x − 2)
3y + 3 = 4x − 8
3 y = 4 x − 11

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The intersection of two lines
The point of intersection of two lines is found by solving the equations of the lines
simultaneously. This can be done in a variety of ways. When both equations are given in
the form y =… then equating the right-hand sides is a good approach (see below). If both
equations are not in this form, you can re-arrange them into this form first, then apply the
same method. Alternatively, you can use the elimination method if the equations are in an
appropriate form.

Example 7
Find the point of intersection of the lines y = 3x − 2 and y = 5 x − 8 .

Solution

Put the two expressions for y as equal to each other and solve

3x − 2 = 5 x − 8
 −2 = 2 x − 8
 6 = 2x
 x=3
Substitute into one of the equations to find y

Substituting x = 3 into y = 3x − 2 gives y = 3  3 − 2 = 7

The point of intersection is (3, 7)

Check that (3, 7) satisfies the second equation.

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