jmc

Question

What is the slope of the line containing the midpoint of the segment with endpoints at (2, 4) and (0, -2) and the midpoint of the segment with endpoints at (5, 1) and (1, 5)? Express your answer in simplest form.

Accepted Answer

We know that the midpoint of a line segment with endpoints (x_1, y_1), (x_2, y_2) is (x_1 + x_22, y_1 + y_22).The midpoint of the first segment is (2+02, 4+(-2)2) = (1,1),and the midpoint of the second segment is (5+12, 1+52) = (3,3).The slope between these two points is 3-13-1 = 1.