The Coordinate Plane

sometimes called the Cartesian Plane, or coordinate system

Class Notes:

Vocabulary

coordinate plane- a numbered grid (think graph paper)

x-axis- a horizontal number line that stretches from the smallest negative number to the largest
positive number
{....-5, -4, -3, -2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5....}

y-axis- a vertical number line that stretches from the smallest negative number to the largest
positive number and intersects the x-axis at the zero of both number lines.

origin- (0, 0) the point where the x-axis and the y-axis intersect and the starting
point

ordered pair- (x, y) used to describe the location of a point on the coordinate plane

x-coordinate- (x, _) the first number in the ordered pair found on the x-axis number line

y-coordinate- (_, y) the second number in the ordered pair found on the y-axis number line
quadrants- the intersection of the x-axis and the y-axis divide the coordinate plane into four
sections known as quadrants. (quad always means four)

The quadrants are I, II, III, and IV.

They are numbered counter-clockwise beginning in the uppermost right hand corner.

They are always written using Roman numerals.

quadrant I- (+, -) All points in quadrant I have a positive x-coordinate and a negative
y-coordinate.

quadrant II- (-, +) All points in quadrant II have a negative x-coordinate and a positive
y-coordinate.

quadrant III- (-,-) All points in quadrant III have a negative x-coordinate and a negative
y-coordinate.

quadrant IV- (+, -) All points in quadrant IV have a positive x-coordinate and a negative
y-coordinate.
The Geometry of the Coordinate Plane

Dimension Axis/Axes Geometry Measures Units Dimensions Number of Points

Formula
Point x-axis 1
Line x-axis Perimeter length of units¹ 1D 2 (minimum)
(add the the line
length of
the line
all around
the shape)

Plane (flat x-axis, Area how much units² 2D 3 (minimum)

surface) y-axis (length × surface
width) is
contained
inside
the
perimeter
of lines

2 Planes x-axis, Volume measures units³ 3D 4 (minimum)

(not-flat y-axis, (length × how much
surface) z-axis width × the
height) non-flat
surface
can
contain

Note: When a surface is 2D or 2-dimensional, the area formula requires 2 numbers to be multiplied.
This always results in units × units = units².
When a surface is 3D or 3-dimensional, the volume formula requires 3 numbers to be multiplied.
This always results in units × units × units = units³.