Graphing using intercepts (old)

0:00Identify the x and y-intercepts of the line y is equal to 3x minus 9. Then graph the line. So the x-intercept, I'll just abbreviate it as x-int, that is where the line intersects the x-axis. So where it intersects the x-axis. Remember, this horizontal axis is the x-axis.

0:20So when something intersects the x-axis, what do we know about its coordinate? Its x-value could be anything, but we know it's y-value is 0. If we're intersecting, if we're sitting on the x-axis someplace, that means that we haven't moved in the y-direction. That means that y is 0.

0:36So this means, literally, that y is 0. So we need to find the x-value defined by this relationship when y is equal to 0. Similarly, when we talk about the y-intercept, I'll do it down here-- when we talk about the y-intercept, what does that mean? Well, y-intercept means-- so this is the y-axis right over here running up and down.

0:56The y-intercept is the point at which the line intercepts the y-axis. So what's going on? If we're at the y-axis, our y-value could be anything depending on where we intersect the y-axis. But we know that we haven't moved to the right or the left. We know that our x-value is 0 at the y-intercept.

1:14So over here, our x-value is going to be 0. And to find the actual point, we just have to find the corresponding y-value defined by this relationship or this equation. So let's do the first one first. The x-intercept is when y is equal to 0. So we set y is equal to 0, and then we'll solve for x.

1:31So we get 0 is equal to 3x minus 9. We can add 9 to both sides of this equation to isolate the x-term. So we get 9 is equal to 3x. These cancel out. We could divide both sides by 3. Divide both sides by 3. We get 3 is equal to x or x is equal to 3. So the point y is equal to 0, x is equal to 3 is on this line.

1:56And let me put it in order. x-coordinate always goes first. So it's 3 comma 0. So this is the origin. 1, 2, 3 is right over here. That is 3 comma 0. This right here is the x-intercept. And remember, notice that point lies on the x-axis, but the y-value is 0. We haven't moved up or down.

2:18When you think x-intercept, you say, OK, that means my y-value is 0. So I have to solve for the x-value. Now we do the opposite for the y-intercept. And the y-intercept, we're sitting on this line, x-value must be 0. So let's figure out what y is equal to when x is equal to 0.

2:34So y is equal to-- I want to do it in that pink color. y is equal to-- y is equal to 3 times-- x is 0 now. 3 times 0 minus 9. Well, 3 times 0 is just 0. So 0 minus 9. Well that's, just equal to negative 9. So we have the point 0 comma negative 9. So when x is 0, we go down 9 for y.

2:571, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. So right there is the point 0 comma negative 9. Notice, it sits on the y-axis. That's why it's the y-intercept. And the x-value is 0. We haven't moved to the left or right. All you need is two points for a line, so we're now ready to graph.

3:18We essentially just have to connect the dots. So it's going to look something like this. It's going to look something-- our line. I don't have a good line tool, so I'm going to try my best to draw it nicely-- is going to look something like that. And you just keep going.

3:34You just keep going. You want to do a straight line. So it just keeps going on and on and on like that. It just keeps going. And I could keep going all the way in that direction, and then-- but then my line doesn't look as straight all of a sudden. I think you get the general idea.

3:52I can keep going like that, and then keep going like that. I don't have a nice ruler to do it with. And we're done.