Cartesian coordinate system

High school (ages 12+)
Mathematics & Numbers

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/cartesian-coordinate-system

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is Cartesian coordinate system known for?Foundation of analytic geometry, unifying algebra and geometry
2. What is the system originator?René Descartes, a 17th-century French philosopher and mathematician
3. What is the dimensionality?Can be extended from 2D (plane) to 3D (space) and higher dimensions
4. How do you locate a point on the Cartesian plane?You write its coordinates as an ordered pair (x, y). The first number, x, tells you how far right (positive) or left (negative) the point is, and the second number, y, tells you how far up (positive) or down (negative) it is.
5. Why did René Descartes create the Cartesian system?He wanted to bring geometry and algebra together so that shapes could be written as equations and equations could be drawn as pictures. This made it easier to study curves and surfaces using math.

Abscissa: The x-coordinate of a point, indicating its horizontal position relative to the origin.
Ordinate: The y-coordinate of a point, indicating its vertical position relative to the origin.
Analytic Geometry: A branch of mathematics that uses coordinate systems to study geometry with algebraic methods.