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Understanding the Cartesian Coordinate System

The document describes the Cartesian coordinate system. It defines the coordinate system as having two perpendicular number lines (axes) intersecting at a single point called the origin. Any point in the plane can then be located using its coordinates - the distance along the x-axis and y-axis from the origin, written as an ordered pair (x,y). It also describes how complex numbers use this same system, but denote the y-axis using the unit i, so points are written as x + yi.

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Samuel Enrique Cano Patoc
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125 views1 page

Understanding the Cartesian Coordinate System

The document describes the Cartesian coordinate system. It defines the coordinate system as having two perpendicular number lines (axes) intersecting at a single point called the origin. Any point in the plane can then be located using its coordinates - the distance along the x-axis and y-axis from the origin, written as an ordered pair (x,y). It also describes how complex numbers use this same system, but denote the y-axis using the unit i, so points are written as x + yi.

Uploaded by

Samuel Enrique Cano Patoc
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

8/10/2016

CartesianCoordinateSystem

CartesianCoordinateSystem
Astraightlinewithanassociateddirection,aselectedpointandaunitlengthisknownasthenumberline,especially
whenthenumbersofinterestareintegers.Otherwise,itmaybecalledanumberorrealaxis.Theselectedpointiscalled
theorigin.Pointsontherealaxisrelatetorealnumberssuchthattheoriginisassociatedwith0andthepointattheunit
distancefromitinthechosendirectionwith1.Allotherpointsareassignedrealnumberswhicharetheirdistancestothe
originmeasuredwiththegivenunitlengthandtakenwiththesignplusorminusdependingwhethertheyareonthe
samesidefromtheoriginasthenumber1.
(Itisassumedthatanypointonalinedividesthelineintotworayssothatthedivisionpointseparatesthepointsonthe
rays.Incaseofarealaxisanditsorigin,theraysareknownasthepositiveandnegativehalfaxes).
Thenumberassociatedwithapointiscalleditscoordinate.
Twoperpendicularrealaxesintheplanedefinea(rectangularplanar)Cartesiancoordinatesystem.Theircommonpoint
istakentobetheorigin(forbothofthem)andthetwounitlengthsarecommonlyequal.Usually,butnotalways,oneof
thetwoaxesishorizontal,theotherverticaltheirpositivedirectionsaretotherightandupwards.Usually,butagainnot
always,thehorizontalaxisiscalledx axis,theverticaloneiscalledy axis.
WithaCartesiansysteminplace,anypointintheplaneisassociatedwithanorderedpairofrealnumbers.Toobtain
thesenumber,wedrawtolinesthroughthepointparallel(andhenceperpendicular)totheaxes.Weareinterestedin
thecoordinatesofthepointsofintersectionofthetwolineswiththeaxes.Assumingthegivenpointdoesnotlieoneither
oftheaxes,therearetwocooridnates:x coordinateonthex axisandy coordinateonthey axis.Thex coordinateis
calledtheabsissaandthey coordinateiscalledtheordinateofthepointathand.Thesearethetwonumbers
associatedwiththepoint.Theyareusuallywrittenas(x, y), theabsissacomingfirst,theordinatesecond.
Complexnumbersarepointsintheplaneendowedwithadditionalstructure.They unitisthendenotedi andthe
pointsonthey axisarewrittenasyi. Thepointsonthex axisaredenotedbythesinglerealnumberx, asifitwasthe
onlynumberaxis.Insteadof(x, y), wethenwritex + yi andcalltheexpressionthecomplexcoordinateofapoint.
Thus

x + yi = (x, y).
Thesign"+ "reallysignifiesanoperationofadditiondefinedforcomplexnumbers.Infact,yi actuallymeanstheproduct
ofy andi. Thetwoclaimsimplyyi = 0 + yi andx + 0i = x.

http://www.cuttheknot.org/Curriculum/Calculus/Coordinates.shtml

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