At that range, using a linear estimation is fine I assure you

Both linear linear and parabolic descriptions of a bullet trajectory are approximations of a drag curve, that can be obtained only numerically.

That’s just what they want you to think

On short distance you do

yup, slope intercept is the name of the formula. m is the slope of the line and b is still the y intercept.

It’s convention, I think. If I remember correctly, you always put y on the left, because you can also write equations as functions of a variable, x, with the symbology f(x) = mx + b. That way you can integrate and derive the function easily, since m and b are constants, and all your x variables are on one side.

If I were to encounter x = my + b, the first thing I would do, just by nature at this point, would be to convert it to y = (x - b) / m.

It’s been a while since I took math, and I was never the best, so others should feel free to correct me.

I’m not a mathematician but if I recall correctly slope is defined the change in y over the change in x. In your formula solved for x, m would represent the inversion of that, the change in x over the change in y.