Intercepts Made by a Straight Line on Axes

We will discuss here about the intercepts made by a straight line on axes or intercepts of a line made on the axes of reference.

Let a straight line ‘MN’ does not passes through the origin which meets x-axis in the point M and y-axis in the point N, then the intercept made by the line MN on x-axis is OM i.e., OM is called x-intercept.

Again, the intercept made by the line MN on y-axis is ON i.e., ON is called y-intercept

Both OM and ON called the intercepts made by the line MN on both x-axis and y-axis.

The line intercept between the axes is the line MN.

Let AB be a line cutting the x-axis and the y-axis at A and B respectively on the positive sides of the axes. Let OA = a and OB = b. 

Then, the intercepts made on the axes of reference by the line are a and b respectively. So, x-intercept = a, and y-intercept = b.

Convention for the signs of intercepts:

The x-intercept is considered positive if it is measured to the right of the origin

The y-intercept is considered positive if it is measured above the origin

The x-intercept is considered negative if measured to the left of the origin.

If A is on the negative side of the x-axis, the intercept on the x-axis (i.e., x-intercept) is = -a.

The y-intercept is considered negative if measured below the origin.

If B is on the negative side of the y-axis, the intercept on the y-axis (i.e., y-intercept) is = -b.

Notes:

(i) When a straight line passes through origin then it makes zero intercepts on axis.

(ii) Any horizontal straight line has no x-intercept

(iii)  Any a vertical line has no y-intercept.

(iii) The intercepts on x-axis is denoted by a

(iv) The intercepts on y-axis is denoted by  b.

(v) When a straight line has only y-intercept, then the intercept denoted by c.

● Equation of a Straight Line

• Inclination of a Line
• Slope of a Line
• Intercepts Made by a Straight Line on Axes
• Slope of the Line Joining Two Points
• Equation of a Straight Line
• Point-slope Form of a Line
• Two-point Form of a Line
• Equally Inclined Lines
• Slope and Y-intercept of a Line
• Condition of Perpendicularity of Two Straight Lines
• Condition of parallelism
• Problems on Condition of Perpendicularity
• Worksheet on Slope and Intercepts
• Worksheet on Slope Intercept Form
• Worksheet on Two-point Form
• Worksheet on Point-slope Form
• Worksheet on Collinearity of 3 Points
• Worksheet on Equation of a Straight Line

10th Grade Math

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