What is the slope of a line that is perpendicular to the line determined by the equation 5x 8y 17?

First find the slope of the given line . 5x + 8y =17

Put this into the 'y = mx + c '. form.

Hence 8y = -5x + 17

y =(-5/8)x +17/8

'-5/8' is the slope of the given line.

To find the perpendicular slope use the equation

mm' = -1

Hence substituting

(-5/8)m' = -1

m' = (-1)(-8/5) (Note the inversion of the numbers)

m' = 8/5 (Note the double negative multiplies out to a positive), = 1 3/5 = 1.6 is the slope of the perpendicular line.