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Cartesian Co

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18 views3 pages

Cartesian Co

Uploaded by

elitelife029
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Cartesian Co-ordinate System

The co-ordinate system is used to locate the position of a point in a plane using two
perpendicular lines. Points are represented in the form of coordinates (x, y) in two-
dimension with respect to x- and y- axes.

To understand the need of coordinate system, let us consider an example.


Suppose Ahmad is a student in your class and he sits in the 3rd column and
the 5th row. Then, this position can be represented as (3, 5).

Two axes – horizontal axis and perpendicular axis are reference lines of a
rectangular system from which distances are measured. They are obtained
as follows:

Explanation:
Take two number lines XX’ and YY’. Place XX’ in horizontal and write the numbers on it as we
write in the number line. Similarly, place YY’ in vertical and proceed writing numbers on it as
we write in a number line. Combine both the lines in such a way that the two lines cross each
other at their zeroes or origins. The horizontal line XX’ is called the x-axis and the vertical line
YY’ is called the y-axis. The point where XX’ and YY’ cross is called the origin, and is denoted
by O. Since the positive numbers lie on the directions OX and OY, OX and OY are called
the positive directions of the x-axis and the y-axis, respectively. Similarly, OX’ and OY’ are
called the negative directions of the x- and y-axes, respectively.

Important Terms:

Quadrants:

Moreover, the axes divide the plane into four parts and these four parts are called quadrants (one-
fourth part). Thus, we have four quadrants numbered I, II, III and IV anticlockwise from OX.

Cartesian Plane:

A plane consists of axes and quadrants. Thus, we call the plane the Cartesian Plane, or the
Coordinate Plane, or the x-y plane. The axes are called the coordinate axes.

Cartesian coordinate system for one dimensional:

The Cartesian coordinate system for one dimensional space consists of a line. We choose a point
O, origin on the line, a unit of length and orientation for the line. The orientation chooses which
of the two half lines determined by O is the positive, and which is negative. Each point P of the
line can be specified by its distance from O, taken with a negative or positive sign.

Abscissa and Ordinate

The x-coordinate of a point is its perpendicular distance from the y-axis measured along the x-
axis, and it is known as Abscissa.

The y-coordinate of a point is its perpendicular distance from the x-axis measured along the y-
axis, and it is known as Ordinate.

In writing the coordinates of a point in the coordinate plane, the x-coordinate comes first, and
then the y-coordinate. We place the coordinates in brackets as (x,y). The coordinates describe a
point in the plane uniquely. It implies (3,1) ≠ (1,3) or in general (x,y) ≠ (y,x).

Consider an example point (5,6). Here, abscissa = 5 and ordinate = 6.


Solved Problems

Example 1: Locate below points on the cartesian coordinate system. Also, mention the quadrant
points belong to.

(i) (2, 3) (ii) (-3, 1) (iii) (-1.5, -2.5) (iv) (0,0)

Solution:

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