Solving Slope Applications
Solving Slope Applications
At the beginning of this section, we said there are many applications of slope in the real world. Let’s look at a few now.
Example
The ‘pitch’ of a building’s roof is the slope of the roof. Knowing the pitch is important in climates where there is heavy snowfall. If the roof is too flat, the weight of the snow may cause it to collapse. What is the slope of the roof shown?
Solution
\(\begin{array}{cccc}\text{Use the slope formula.}\hfill & & & \phantom{\rule{4em}{0ex}}m=\frac{\text{rise}}{\text{run}}\hfill \\ \text{Substitute the values for rise and run.}\hfill & & & \phantom{\rule{4em}{0ex}}m=\frac{9}{18}\hfill \\ \text{Simplify.}\hfill & & & \phantom{\rule{4em}{0ex}}m=\frac{1}{2}\hfill \\ \text{The slope of the roof is}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\frac{1}{2}.\hfill & & \\ & & & \begin{array}{c}\text{The roof rises 1 foot for every 2 feet of}\hfill \\ \text{horizontal run.}\hfill \end{array}\hfill \end{array}\)
Example
Have you ever thought about the sewage pipes going from your house to the street? They must slope down \(\frac{1}{4}\) inch per foot in order to drain properly. What is the required slope?
Solution
\(\begin{array}{cccc}\text{Use the slope formula.}\hfill & & & \phantom{\rule{5em}{0ex}}m=\frac{\text{rise}}{\text{run}}\hfill \\ & & & \phantom{\rule{5em}{0ex}}m=\frac{-\frac{1}{4}\text{inch}}{\text{1 foot}}\hfill \\ & & & \phantom{\rule{5em}{0ex}}m=\frac{-\frac{1}{4}\text{inch}}{\text{12 inches}}\hfill \\ \text{Simplify.}\hfill & & & \phantom{\rule{5em}{0ex}}m=-\frac{1}{48}\hfill \\ & & & \phantom{\rule{2em}{0ex}}\text{The slope of the pipe is}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}-\frac{1}{48}.\hfill \end{array}\)
The pipe drops 1 inch for every 48 inches of horizontal run.
Helpful Resources
Access these online resources for additional instruction and practice with understanding slope of a line.
Recommended Lesson: Using Geoboards to Model Slope
This lesson is part of:
Graphs and Equations