Concept

Finding the Intercepts of a Linear Equation

The intercepts of a linear equation can be determined algebraically by exploiting the fact that one coordinate is always 00 at each intercept. - To find the xx-intercept, substitute y=0y = 0 into the equation and solve the resulting equation for xx. The solution gives the ordered pair (a,0)(a, 0). - To find the yy-intercept, substitute x=0x = 0 into the equation and solve for yy. The solution gives the ordered pair (0,b)(0, b). For example, given the equation 3x+4y=23x + 4y = -2, substituting x=0x = 0 produces 3(0)+4y=23(0) + 4y = -2, which simplifies to 4y=24y = -2, so y=12y = -\frac{1}{2}, and the yy-intercept is (0,12)(0, -\frac{1}{2}). Similarly, substituting y=0y = 0 gives 3x+4(0)=23x + 4(0) = -2, so 3x=23x = -2 and x=23x = -\frac{2}{3}, yielding the xx-intercept (23,0)(-\frac{2}{3}, 0).

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Updated 2026-05-03

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