What are Coordinates?

Coordinates are a set of values that represent a position in space. They can be used to pinpoint where something is located, whether it’s on a map or in the real world. There are different types of coordinate systems, but the most common one is the Cartesian coordinate system. It consists of two perpendicular axes, the x-axis and y-axis, which intersect at a point called the origin. The x-axis runs horizontally from left to right, while the y-axis runs vertically from bottom to top.

To find the coordinates of a point, you need to know its distance from the origin along each axis. For example, if a point is 3 units to the right of the origin and 4 units up from it, then its coordinates would be (3,4). The first number always corresponds to the x-coordinate (the horizontal distance), and the second number corresponds to the y-coordinate (the vertical distance).

You can also use negative numbers for coordinates. For instance, if a point is 2 units to the left of the origin and 1 unit down from it, then its coordinates would be (-2,-1). And if a point is exactly on one of the axes, then only one coordinate will be needed. For example, if a point is 4 units to the right of the origin but remains on 0 on vertical axis , then its coordinate would simply be written as (4,0).

There are other ways of representing points with coordinates besides using Cartesian system . One popular alternative is known as polar coordinate system . In this system , points are represented using their distance from origin and angle relative to some fixed direction . However , this method isn’t as commonly used so we will focus on explaining how points work in Cartesian coordinate system .

If you want practice finding coordinates , there are many online interactive tools such as this one that can help you out.