Answer: To classify an equation as linear or nonlinear, find the variable in the equation. Does it have a power (or exponent) of 1, which usually is not written? If so, then it is a linear equation. If the variable has any other exponent, like 2 for example, then the equation in nonlinear.
- Linear equations can only have variables to the power of 1.
If the equation is graphed, or if you graph it, you can look at its shape which can also help you classify it as linear or nonlinear. Linear should be a straight line, nonlinear is any other line.