Why does m = slope? If anyone could tell me I would really like to know. Thanks!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DorianGreyed,

The short answer to your question is that nobody knows why the letter m is conventionally used to represent slope.

Descartes, who was chiefly responsible for refining, if not inventing, the notion of slope, did not use m to represent it in his own work.

Be prepared for a deluge of answers to this frequently-asked question which claim to know that it comes from the French verb monter, meaning to climb, and the like.

Nobody knows for sure. It is conventional. Accept it.

I suppose montagne, meaning a hill or mountain, which roots in the same word as monter, would also be a viable suggestion.

Here's what Mathworld has to say about it:

Click Here.