Cartesian coordinate system
Imagine you have a big piece of paper with two lines drawn on it, one going straight up and down and the other going straight left and right. These lines cross in the center of the paper, and that point is called the origin.
Now, you can place a dot anywhere on that paper and call it a point. But, how do you tell someone where that point is? That's where the cartesian coordinate system comes in.
To use this system, we need to give each line a name. The line going up and down is called the y-axis, and the line going left and right is called the x-axis.
We also need to set some rules. We'll say that the numbers get bigger as you move up the y-axis, and bigger as you move right along the x-axis.
So, each point on the paper can now be named with a pair of numbers, like (2, 3). The first number tells us how far to move along the x-axis (2 units to the right), and the second number tells us how far to move up the y-axis (3 units up).
This system is really helpful for lots of things, like graphing math problems and giving directions on a map!
Now, you can place a dot anywhere on that paper and call it a point. But, how do you tell someone where that point is? That's where the cartesian coordinate system comes in.
To use this system, we need to give each line a name. The line going up and down is called the y-axis, and the line going left and right is called the x-axis.
We also need to set some rules. We'll say that the numbers get bigger as you move up the y-axis, and bigger as you move right along the x-axis.
So, each point on the paper can now be named with a pair of numbers, like (2, 3). The first number tells us how far to move along the x-axis (2 units to the right), and the second number tells us how far to move up the y-axis (3 units up).
This system is really helpful for lots of things, like graphing math problems and giving directions on a map!
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