Why is the letter m used to denote the slope on a line?
Why is the variable m used for slope of a function? Actually know one knows for sure (not even mathematic historians) A short history for the various variables used to represent slope can be found at: http://members.aol.com/jeff570/geometry.… The earliest known use of m for slope appears in Vincenzo Riccati’s memoir De methodo Hermanni ad locos geometricos resolvendos, which is chapter XII of the first part of his book Vincentii Riccati Opusculorum ad res Physica, & Mathematicas pertinentium (1757) The site I got this from sums up: “It is not known why the letter m was chosen for slope; the choice may have been arbitrary. John Conway has suggested m could stand for “modulus of slope.” One high school algebra textbook says the reason for m is unknown, but remarks that it is interesting that the French word for ‘to climb’ is monter. However, there is no evidence to make any such connection. Descartes, who was Frenc
