y-intercept: The Start of Your Line

The y-intercept of a line is nothing more than an ordered pair.  The only special thing about the y-int is that the x-value must be zero.

Notice the common trend, the first number (x) is always 0.

To find the y-int, plug in x = 0 for your equation, and solve for y.

Instead of writing the y-int as (0, 3), we can also write it as...

y - intercept = 3, or for short, y-int = 3.

 

The y-intercept is also often written as b = 3.  We use the letter b to represent the beginning of the line.  We use this to help us graph a line in the coordinate plane.

The y-int from a graph is still the y value where x = 0.  Luckily, there is a really easy way to find it.  Just look for the place where your line crosses the y-axis.

Look for yellow and blue lines to make a green dot...

The y-int is the green dot shown above.  The x-value is 0, and the y-value is 1.  That is why the point is (0, 1).

The y-intercept is often paired with slope.  Learn how to graph using the slope and y-intercept or take a look at slope intercept form.

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