In the xy-plane, the graph of intersects line p at
and
, where a and b are constants. What is the slope of line p ?
Choice A is correct. It’s given that the graph of and line p intersect at
and
. Therefore, the value of y when
is the value of a, and the value of y when
is the value of b. Substituting 1 for x in the given equation yields
, or
. Similarly, substituting 5 for x in the given equation yields
, or
. Therefore, the intersection points are
and
. The slope of line p is the ratio of the change in y to the change in x between these two points:
, or 6.
Choices B, C, and D are incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors in determining the values of a, b, or the slope of line p.