Slope Calculator
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Point 1 (x1, y1)
Point 2 (x2, y2)
Calculate slope, distance, midpoint, y-intercept, and line equation from two coordinate points.
Enter your values below and click Calculate for instant results.
Slope measures the steepness and direction of a line. It is calculated as the ratio of vertical change (rise) to horizontal change (run) between any two points on the line. A positive slope means the line goes up from left to right. A negative slope means the line goes down. A slope of zero means the line is horizontal. An undefined slope means the line is vertical.
The slope-intercept form of a line equation (y = mx + b) is one of the most used formulas in algebra. M is the slope and b is the y-intercept, the value of y when x equals zero. Knowing any two points on a line is enough to determine both m and b, giving you the complete equation of the line.
Slope appears in many practical contexts. Road grades are expressed as slope percentages (a 6% grade means a rise of 6 feet for every 100 feet of horizontal distance). Roof pitch is slope expressed as rise over run in inches per foot. Wheelchair ramp specifications typically require a maximum slope of 1:12 (one inch of rise per foot of horizontal run) under ADA guidelines.
Parallel lines have equal slopes. Perpendicular lines have slopes that are negative reciprocals of each other. If one line has a slope of 2, any perpendicular line has a slope of -1/2. These relationships are useful in geometry proofs and in practical applications like determining whether two streets intersect at a right angle.