Cartesian Coordinate System

Beginnings and Components

BEGINNINGS

• The Cartesian Coordinate plane is named for the French mathematician, Rene´ Descartes.

• The idea came to him while watching a fly crawl across his ceiling.

BEGINNINGS

He thought to use two perpendicular lines to pinpoint the fly’s location.

THE NEXT FEW SLIDES WILL BREAK DOWN THE

COMPONENTS OF THE CARTESIAN COORDINATE

SYSTEM.

THE AXES

• HERE IS A PICTURE OF THE CARTESIAN COORDINATE SYSTEM.

THE AXES

• The horizontal line is the x-axis.

• The vertical line is the y-axis

THE ORIGIN

• The center is the origin.

• Always start from here when plotting a point.

THE ORDERED PAIR

• The first number represents where to move on the x-axis.

• A positive x means move right;

a negative x means move left.

THE ORDERED PAIR

• The second number represents where to move on the y-axis.

• A positive y means move up;

a negative y means move down.

THE ORDERED PAIR

EXAMPLES

• (3,2) means move right three and up two.

• (4,-1) means move right four and down one.

• (-5,0) means move left five and zero up or

down.

YOUR TURN

Using your flashcard, think about what

your ordered pair is.