Rotating shapes about the origin by

multiples of 90°
Introduction
In this article we will practice the art of rotating shapes. Mathematically
speaking, we will learn how to draw the image of a given shape under a given
rotation.

This article focuses on rotations by multiples of 90^\circ90∘90, degrees, both

positive (counterclockwise) and negative (clockwise).

Part 1: Rotating points by 90,180 and -90

Let's study an example problem
We want to find the image A' the point A(3,4) under a rotation by 90 about
the origin.

Let's start by visualizing the problem. Positive rotations are

counterclockwise, so our rotation will look something like this:

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Cool, we estimated A' visually. But now we need to find exact coordinates.
There are two ways to do this.

Solution method 1: The visual approach

We can imagine a rectangle that has one vertex at the origin and the opposite
vertex at A

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A rotation by 90 is like tipping the rectangle on its side:

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Now we see that the image of A(3,4) under the rotation is A'(-4,3), prime,

Notice it's easier to rotate the points that lie on the axes, and these help us
find the image of A:

Point (3,0) (0,4) (3,4)

Images (0,3) (-4,0) (-4,3)

Solution method 2: The algebraic approach

Let's take a closer look at points A and A':

Point x-coordinate y-coordinate

A 3 4

A’ -4 3

Notice an interesting phenomenon: The x-coordinate of Abecame the y-

coordinate of A', and the opposite of the y-coordinate of A became the x-
coordinate of A'.
We can represent this mathematically as follows:

𝑅(0,0),90 (𝑥, 𝑦) = (−𝑦, 𝑥)

It turns out that this is true for any point, not just our AAA. Here are
a few more examples:

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