Linear equations contain only linear terms. This means there are no square, cube or higher order terms in the equation. The slope of a line describes the steepness of a line, indicating how much the y coordinate changes with respect to x coordinate. The slope has many applications in civil engineering, geography, calculus and economics, among other fields.

Write the equation and bring it to the form ax+by+c=0.

Determine the x and y coefficient. In the previous example, the x coefficient is 'a' and the y coefficient is 'b'.

Calculate the slope of the linear equation using the formula -(a/b). For example, the slope of the line 3y = -4x+6 is -(4/3).