Questions: Question 2 of 10 The equation y=ax describes the graph of a line. If the value of a is negative, the line: A. goes up and to the left. B. goes down and to the left. C. is vertical. D. is horizontal.

Solution Steps

To determine the direction of the line described by the equation \( y = ax \), we need to consider the slope \( a \). If \( a \) is negative, the line will have a negative slope, which means it will go down as it moves from left to right. Therefore, the correct answer is that the line goes down and to the left.

The equation of the line is given by \( y = ax \). Here, \( a \) represents the slope of the line. The slope determines the direction in which the line moves as \( x \) increases.

Since the value of \( a \) is negative, the slope of the line is negative. A negative slope indicates that as \( x \) increases, \( y \) decreases. This means the line moves downward as it progresses from left to right.

With a negative slope, the line will go down and to the left. This is because the line descends as it moves from the left side of the graph to the right side.

Final Answer