Make a conjecture about y = ax+b

[5ymmetrica1]

yeah I worked it out today, I think this problem just got the better of me this week lol.

Thanks for your help everyone!

 

[tiny-tim]

good!

but since you need the practice, now try it another way …

your professor told you to find the the slope (let's call it "k") by finding the distance as a function of x, and to differentiate wrt x

instead, try finding the distance as a function of k, and differentiating wrt k (which will give you k directly, and may be quicker)

ie for the slope y = kx, find the coordinates where it intersects y = ax + b (both as a function of k), and then minimise that

to practise your algebra, show us what you get

(and which method do you think is quicker?)​