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Slope illustrated for y = (3/2)x − 1.Click on to enlarge Slope of a line in coordinates system, from f(x) = −12x + 2 to f(x) = 12x + 2. The slope of a line in the plane containing the x and y axes is generally represented by the letter m, [5] and is defined as the change in the y coordinate divided by the corresponding change in the x coordinate, between two distinct points on the line.
l = slope length α = angle of inclination. The grade (US) or gradient (UK) (also called stepth, slope, incline, mainfall, pitch or rise) of a physical feature, landform or constructed line is either the elevation angle of that surface to the horizontal or its tangent. It is a special case of the slope, where zero indicates horizontality. A ...
The slope a measures the rate of change of the output y per unit change in the input x. In the graph, moving one unit to the right (increasing x by 1) moves the y-value up by a: that is, (+) = +. Negative slope a indicates a decrease in y for each increase in x.
The gradient of the function f(x,y) = −(cos 2 x + cos 2 y) 2 depicted as a projected vector field on the bottom plane. The gradient (or gradient vector field) of a scalar function f(x 1, x 2, x 3, …, x n) is denoted ∇f or ∇ → f where ∇ denotes the vector differential operator, del.
The graph of such a function of one variable is a nonvertical line. a is frequently referred to as the slope of the line, and b as the intercept. If a > 0 then the gradient is positive and the graph slopes upwards. If a < 0 then the gradient is negative and the graph slopes downwards.
The gradient theorem states that if the vector field F is the gradient of some scalar-valued function (i.e., if F is conservative), then F is a path-independent vector field (i.e., the integral of F over some piecewise-differentiable curve is dependent only on end points). This theorem has a powerful converse:
More generally, for a function of n variables (, …,), also called a scalar field, the gradient is the vector field: = (, …,) = + + where (=,,...,) are mutually orthogonal unit vectors. As the name implies, the gradient is proportional to, and points in the direction of, the function's most rapid (positive) change.
y=f(x)=.5x+1 or f(x,y)=x-2y+2=0 Positive and negative half-planes. The slope-intercept form of a line is written as = = + where is the slope and is the y-intercept. Because this is a function of only , it can't represent a vertical line.