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Linear Equation


A linear equation is an algebraic equation of the form

 y=mx+b

involving only a constant and a first-order (linear) term, where m is the slope and b is the y-intercept. The above form is aptly known as slope-intercept form; alternatively, linear equations can be written in a number of other forms including standard form, intercept form, etc.

Occasionally, the above is called a "linear equation of two variables," where y and x are the variables. Equations such as x=3 and y=2 are linear equations of a single variable, and 2x+4y+5z-6=0 is an example of a linear equation with three variables.


See also

Intercept Form, Line, Linear System of Equations, Point-Slope Form, Polynomial, Quadratic Equation, Recursive Sequence, Slope-Intercept Form, Standard Form, Two-Point Form

This entry contributed by Christopher Stover

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References

Gellert, W.; Gottwald, S.; Hellwich, M.; Kästner, H.; and Künstner, H. (Eds.). VNR Concise Encyclopedia of Mathematics, 2nd ed. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, p. 86, 1989.

Referenced on Wolfram|Alpha

Linear Equation

Cite this as:

Stover, Christopher. "Linear Equation." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource, created by Eric W. Weisstein. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/LinearEquation.html

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