How can I rewrite the equation 4x + 2y = 5 in the form y = mx + b?

To rewrite the equation 4x + 2y = 5 in the slope-intercept form y = mx + b, where m is the slope and b is the y-intercept, follow these steps:

1. Start with the original equation:

   4x + 2y = 5

2. Isolate the term with y on one side of the equation. To do this, subtract 4x from both sides:

   2y = 5 – 4x

3. Now, we want to have y alone, so divide every term by 2:

   y = (5 – 4x) / 2

4. Simplifying that will give us:

   y = (5/2) – 2x

5. To match the slope-intercept form more closely, you can rearrange it to:

   y = -2x + (5/2)

In this final form, you can see that m = -2 (the slope) and b = 5/2 (the y-intercept). This means that the line will decrease as x increases, and it crosses the y-axis at (0, 2.5).

Understanding how to manipulate equations like this is crucial for graphing lines and solving systems of equations in algebra!