Cartesian plane
X and Y
A Cartesian plane is a two-dimensional surface defined by perpendicular horizontal and vertical axes, typically labeled x and y, intersecting at a point called the origin.
Named after mathematician René Descartes, it allows any point to be specified by coordinates: Plot the point (3, 5) on the Cartesian plane.
The system underlies graphing, geometry, and much of mathematical visualization.
- abscissaHorizontal position on graph
- coordinate systemMethod for locating points
- axisRotation reference line
- geometryScience of spatial relationships
- quadrantsFour equal divisions
graphing · origin · grid · Euclidean geometry · vectors · matrices · reference frame · unit circle · horizontal · vertical · line · straight line · point · plot · algebra · coordinates · equation · parabola
- French MathFermat, Pascal, Laplace, Grothendieck, Condorcet
- coordinate geometrycoordinate, coordinates, coordinate grid, x-axis, y-axis
- geometryangles, circles, angle, shapes, lines
- mathematicsalgebra, arithmetic, calculus, geometry, number
- graphsgraph, bar graph, line graph, pie chart, scatter plot
plane, cartographer, cartography, cartographic, Descartes, Cartesian