Defining Slope — Cheat sheet

Choose “Save as PDF” in the print dialog.
On this page

The definition

m=riserunm = \dfrac{\text{rise}}{\text{run}} - vertical change over horizontal change, between ANY two points of the line.

Reading the number

SlopeMeaning
m>0m > 0rises left to right
m<0m < 0falls left to right
large ∥m∥\|m\|steep
small ∥m∥\|m\|gentle

The key fact

A straight line has ONE slope everywhere - any two measuring triangles are similar, so rise/run always reduces to the same value.