Find the Slope of a Perpendicular Line y-3x=-1

$y - 3 x = - 1$

Step 1

Rewrite in slope-intercept form.

The slope-intercept form is $y = m x + b$ , where $m$ is the slope and $b$ is the y-intercept.

$y = m x + b$

Add $3 x$ to both sides of the equation.

$y = - 1 + 3 x$

Reorder $- 1$ and $3 x$ .

$y = 3 x - 1$

Step 2

Using the slope-intercept form, the slope is $3$ .

$m = 3$

Step 3

The equation of a perpendicular line to $y = 3 x - 1$ must have a slope that is the negative reciprocal of the original slope.

$m_{perpendicular} = - \frac{1}{3}$

Step 4