We use coordinate axes to show where something is in space.

The horizontal axis is called the x-axis.

The vertical axis is called the y-axis.

The two axes must be perpendicular.

Where the two axes meet is called the origin.

We can describe a point in space using coordinates.

Coordinates are a pair of numbers in brackets, e.g. (3,2). The first number tells us how far along the x-axis to go (i.e. 3). The second number tells us how far up the y-axis to go (i.e. 2).

Let’s draw some axes and practice plotting some coordinates.

Exercise 1

Negative Coordinates

What we saw above is actually only part of the coordinate axes. We can extend them to the left and down in order to deal with negative coordinates. Let’s try plotting some coordinates where either the x-coordinate or the y-coordinate or both are negative.

Exercise 2

Answers to both exercises