Phyopedia

Coordinate

A coordinate is a number that fixes a position. On a number-line one number locates a point; on a coordinate-plane a pair (x, y) does. The first number is the horizontal position, measured along the x-axis, and the second is the vertical position, measured along the y-axis.

The signs of the two coordinates tell you which quadrant the point lies in, and their absolute values give the distances from the axes.