Apply the transformation rule to quadrilateral . What is the effect of the transformation rule?
6.2
Activity
Make a Conjecture
Complete the table with the slope of each segment from the Warm-up.
original figure slope
image slope
product
The image in the Warm-up is a 90-degree rotation of the original figure, so each line in the original figure is perpendicular to the corresponding line in the image. Use your slope calculations to make a conjecture about slopes of perpendicular lines.
6.3
Activity
Prove It
Let’s prove our conjecture about slopes of perpendicular lines for the case in which the lines pass through the origin.
Find the slope of a line passing through the point and the origin. Assume that the line is not horizontal or vertical.
Suppose the line is rotated using the transformation rule . Find the coordinates of the images of the points and the origin.
How does the original line relate to the image?
Find the slope of the image.
Compare your slopes. What did you just prove?
Student Lesson Summary
The diagram shows triangle and its image, triangle , under a 90-degree rotation counterclockwise using the origin as the center.
Since the rotation was through 90 degrees, all line segments in the image are perpendicular to the corresponding segments in the original triangle. For example, segment is horizontal, while segment is vertical.
Look at segments and , which, like the other pairs of segments, are perpendicular. The slope of segment is , while the slope of segment is . Notice the relationship between the slopes: They are reciprocals of one another, and have opposite signs. The product of the slopes, , is -1. As long as perpendicular lines are not horizontal or vertical, their slopes will be opposite reciprocals and have a product of -1.
We can use this fact to help write equations of lines. For example, try writing the equation of a line that passes through the point and is perpendicular to a line, , represented by . The slope of line is 3. The slope of any line perpendicular to line is the opposite reciprocal of 3, or . Substitute the point and the slope into the point-slope form to get the equation .
Glossary
reciprocal
Two numbers that multiply to equal 1 are reciprocals.
If is a rational number that is not 0, then the reciprocal of is the number .
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