The Lesson

The y-intercept of a line is the y-coordinate of the point where the line crosses the y-axis. Imagine a line is drawn on a graph. We can find the y-intercept of the line.

How to Find the Y-Intercept of a Line

Finding the y-intercept of a line is easy.

Question

Find the y-intercept of the line shown below. Graph with a line example

Step-by-Step:

1

Find where the line crosses the y-axis.

The line crosses the y-axis here

2

Read off the y-coordinate of the point where the line crosses the y-axis. In our example, the line crosses the y-axis at a y-intercept of 1.

The line crosses the y-axis at a y-coordinate of

Answer:

The y-intercept is 1.

Lesson Slides

The slider below gives a real example of how to find the y-intercept of a line. Open the slider in a new tab

Positive, Zero and Negative Y-Intercepts

A positive y-intercept means the line crosses the y-axis above the x-axis: positive y intercept A zero y-intercept means the line crosses the y-axis at the origin: zero y-intercept A negative y-intercept means the line crosses the y-axis below the x-axis: negative y-intercept Read more about linear equations.