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Help your students prepare for their Maths GCSE with this free straight line graph worksheet of 30+ questions and answers
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Straight line graphs are graphs of linear functions and are often called linear graphs. Linear functions are functions involving x and y (with no powers).
The equation of a straight line is usually given in the form y=mx+c. When written in this way, m in the equation of the line is the gradient of the line and c is the y intercept. The gradient of a straight line tells us how steep the line is – the bigger the gradient, the steeper the line. A line with a positive gradient slopes upwards and a line with a negative gradient slopes downwards. The y intercept of a line is the point at which the line crosses the y axis.
Step-by-step guide: Gradient of a line
When drawing straight line graphs, we use the equation y=mx+c to calculate the coordinates of the points of the line and create a table of values. We can plot the corresponding x values and y values onto a set of axes and join them together.Â
Horizontal and vertical lines have slightly adapted equations. Lines of the form y=a (where a is a constant) are straight horizontal lines with a gradient of 0. Lines of the form x=a (where a is a constant) are straight vertical lines and have a gradient of ∞. Parallel lines have the same gradient and the gradients of perpendicular lines are the negative reciprocal of each other.Â
We can use the line, or information about the line, to find the equation of the straight line, the midpoint of the line and the length of the line.
Looking forward, students can then progress to additional straight line graphs worksheets and on to more algebra worksheets for example a simplifying expressions worksheet or simultaneous equations worksheet.
For more teaching and learning support on Algebra our GCSE maths lessons provide step by step support for all GCSE maths concepts.
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