(x,y) Coordinate Plane

The (x,y) Coordinate Plane is also Cartesian Plane, which is used to plot points that is formed by number lines intersecting at right angles. Each point in the plane corresponds to an ordered pair (x,y) or real numbers, x and y, which are called coordinates. The x-coordinate is the distance from the y-axis and the y-coordinate is the distance from the x- axis. Points plotted on this plane may form a line, a triangle, rectangle, or any other polygon, when the points are connected.

This is a coordinate plane with the different quadrants. The first quadrant has (+,+) coordinates, the 2nd has (-,+) , the 3rd has (-,-), and the 4th has (+,-).  The coordinates determine what quadrant the point will be in so it is easier to plot points when you know what quadrant that point should be in.

When you have a function of x, using a coordinate plane can be very useful. If you have y=x+4, you can use a coordinate plane to see all the values of y when x equals any number. If you have a graphing calculator, you can pinpoint specific coordinates, like when x=77, y=81. When functions get much more challenging than these examples, using a coordinate plain can be very helpful for seeing how the function will react or what the answers will be.

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