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Date Posted: 22:11:57 01/23/05 Sun
Author: hello
Subject: Re: y=mx+b
In reply to: Nicole 's message, "y=mx+b" on 20:20:42 10/24/03 Fri

>>does anybody out there know why m is used as a symbol
>>for the slope???? or b is equal to the y-intercept...
>who came up with that and why do they use m for slope
>and b for the y-intercept?

Y=MX+B, the reason behind the "m":

The reason behind the m in Y=MX+B is not specifically known. There are a few different reasons. One is that the m, in French, stood for monter, which refers to "the amount of climbing one has to do". This is because Descartes, known as the founder of analytic geometry, was French. So since the French verb "to climb" is monter, Descartes used an "m" for slope. One person suggests that "m" could stand for "modulus of slope." Also, "m" could stand for "measurement procedure." "Mensuratio" stands for a measuring procedure for the ratio between two changing values, so mensuratio could also stand for "m". Even though further research has been done in this area, researchers have said that they can find no real reason why "m" is in Y=MX+B. Also, some researchers think "m" being represented by monter is just an urban legend.

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  • Re: y=mx+b -- a, 22:25:02 01/23/05 Sun
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