A linear equation is an algebraic equation in which each term is either a

constant or the product of a constant and (the first power of) a single variable.
Linear equations can have one or more variables.
While they arise quite naturally when modeling many phenomena, they are
particularly useful since many non-linear equations may be reduced to linear
equations by assuming that quantities of interest vary to only a small extent from
some "background" state. Linear equations do not include exponents.
Linear equations in two variables ( y = mx + b )
The origin of the name "linear" comes from the fact that the
set of solutions of such an equation forms a straight line in the
plane. In this particular equation, the constant m determines
the slope or gradient of that line, and the constant term b
determines the point at which the line crosses the y-axis,
otherwise known as the y-intercept.
Equations of the straight line
General (or standard) form
In the general (or standard) form the linear equation is written as:
Ax + By = C
Pointslope form
y - y1 = m(x - x1), where
m - the slope of the line
(x1,y1) - any point on the

line

Two-point form
(x1, y1) and (x2, y2) are two points on the line
x1
m = (y2 y1)/(x2 x1) the slope

with x2

Intercept form

where a and b must be nonzero. The graph of the equation has x-intercept a and yintercept b. The intercept form is in standard form with A = 1/a and B = 1/b.
Polar form
where m is the slope of the line and b is the yintercept.

 Normal form
The normal segment for a given line is defined to be the line segment drawn from
the origin perpendicular to the line. This segment joins the origin with the closest
point on the line to the origin. The normal form of the equation of a straight line is
given by:
where is the angle of inclination of the normal segment, and p is the length of the
normal segment.

Matrix form
Using the order of the standard form:
Ax + By = C
one can rewrite the equation in matrix form:
Further, this representation extends to systems of linear equations.
becomes
There are named methods for solving simultaneous linear equations like GaussJordan which can be expressed as matrix elementary row operations.

Connections between two linear equations

The graphs are paralel one to each other
y1 = m1x1 + b1
y2 = m2x2 + b2
m = m1 = m2, b1 = b2 or b1 b2
The graphs are perpendicular one on each other

Connection with linear functions

A linear equation, written in the form y = f(x) whose graph crosses through the
origin, that is, whose y-intercept is 0, has the following properties:
and
where a is any scalar. A function which satisfies these properties is called a linear
function.

Linear equations in more than two variables

A linear equation can involve more than two variables. The general linear equation
in n variables is:
In this form, a1, a2, , an are the coefficients, x1, x2, , xn are the variables, and b is
the constant. When dealing with three or fewer variables, it is common to replace
x1 with just x, x2 with y, and x3 with z, as appropriate.
Such an equation will represent an (n1)-dimensional hyperplane in n-dimensional
Euclidean space (for example, a plane in 3-space).