Workers in the petroleum, forestry, and other such industries rely upon information about transformations to mark locations for scheduled work, deliveries, etc. The coordinate plane is the location marked by the x- and y-coordinates on a 2-D surface (a flat surface, such as paper) similar to the one below.

The directions also resemble lines of longitude and latitude and the directions on a compass — north, south, east, and west.

In some respects, the numbering system can even be compared to a thermometer! All directions begin from the origin point, which is where the two axes meet. This is the zero point labelled as (0, 0).

Directions can be given informally:

Example:

Move shape right 2, and down 3.
Move shape east 2, and south 3.

Directions can also be given using coordinates:

Example:

    (x, y) -> (x + 2, y - 3)

In this example, the directions are telling you to move the x-coordinate right (or east) 2 spaces (x + 2) and the y-coordinate down (or south) 3 spaces (y – 2).

The coordinate plane is also divided into areas called quadrants.

If you were playing a game, you might say, "Move two places to the right and one place up." This would result in the placement of your blue playing piece as shown in the figure above. Remember that all moves originate from the origin point (where the two axes meet) unless stated otherwise!

Click on the Play button below to watch a video on how to plot points on a coordinate plane.

Digging Deeper!