this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2024
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Serious question: is x = my + b also a slope intercept? Why is it only calculated via the y axis?
It’s convention, I think. If I remember correctly, you always put y on the left, because you can also write equations as functions of a variable, x, with the symbology f(x) = mx + b. That way you can integrate and derive the function easily, since m and b are constants, and all your x variables are on one side.
If I were to encounter x = my + b, the first thing I would do, just by nature at this point, would be to convert it to y = (x - b) / m.
It’s been a while since I took math, and I was never the best, so others should feel free to correct me.
Correct. Y is a response to X. How does y change as x changes? If I need to achieve this y, what does my x need to be? By convention, y is the dependent variable and x is the independent variable, m is slope, and a, b, c are constants.
I'm not a mathematician but if I recall correctly slope is defined the change in y over the change in x. In your formula solved for x, m would represent the inversion of that, the change in x over the change in y.