To calculate slope of the land from contour maps one still needs to determine the rise and run. The pitch of roof is its vertical rise divided by its horizontal span. So rise over run in this example right over here is going to be 2 over negative 6 which is the same thing as negative 13.
A line has a constant slope and is horizontal when m 0.
A vertical line has an undefined slope since it would result in a fraction with 0 as the denominator. To calculate slope of the land from contour maps one still needs to determine the rise and run. Calculate your rise and then your run. Sometimes the horizontal change is called run and the vertical change is called rise or fall.