why the letter "m'' is used to represent slope?

Question

please tell me why the letter "m" is used to represent slope

Answer 1

Let me first start by saying good question. I believe I"ll star you for that.

Since you asked, I did my research.

For the most part, people don't really know why. It has been attributed to the original title "modules of slope" (but the man who coined this term did not use "m"). The French for "to climb," "montrer," is also often attributed to the use of "m," but this is considered more of an urban myth than anything.

Mathematician M. Risi says something to the effect of:
a, b, c, etc. are generally constants. They do not change. On the opposite end of the spectrum, t, x, y, and z are generally variables, leaving all of the room in the middle for parameters, hence "m."

There are plenty of interesting theories, but what I believe is that it was more-or-less randomly picked because there was not a term represented by "m."

Most historians agree that there is no true "reason" for using "m" as opposed to any other letter.

Hope this helps. Thanks.