![]() ![]() Going deeper, “ab-” means “off” or “away” (as in abnormal) and “scindere” means “to cut” (as in re scind). It’s Latin, from “linea abscissa”, meaning “a line cut off”. None seem to have much of anything to do with the x-axis. There’s also an abscissa of stability and an abscissa mapping and a spectral abscissa. The definition avoids the confusion from the standard dictionaries (and even avoids the Cartesian nitpick), but tosses in an extra use: abscissa as the x-axis itself.įor example, here’s an excerpt from On the Relative Abundance of Bird Species:įor convenience, the abscissa is graduated logarithmically. Physicists and astronomers sometimes use the term to refer to the axis itself instead of the distance along it. The x-(horizontal) coordinate of a point in a two dimensional coordinate system. Just to nitpick, the abscissa also applies to oblique coordinates, not just Cartesian ones.īut that’s not all! Try this version of the definition from MathWorld: The impression is so strong to me I am left wondering if there the word has ever been used historically in such a way. That is, (5,3) would give an abscissa of 5 and (-5,3) would also give an abscissa of 5. The definitions give the impression that the abscissa is the unsigned value of x. Not sure where the confusion is yet? Try this picture from Merriam-Webster: The horizontal coordinate of a point in a plane Cartesian coordinate system obtained by measuring parallel to the x-axis. (in plane Cartesian coordinates) the x-coordinate of a point: its distance from the y-axis measured parallel to the x-axis. Since it’s also in the As (before dictionary writers get tired) there shouldn’t be any ambiguity, issue, or controversy. (The y value is called the ordinate, which in the example would be 5.) * For example, the abscissa of (-3,5) is -3. Let's try out some practice problems to see how coordinates work on a Cartesian plane.In a (x,y) coordinate system, the abscissa is the x value. You may be asked to identify which quadrant a set of coordinates lie in, or be told that an ordered pair is in a certain quadrant. Lastly, quadrant IV is where x is positive and y is negative (the bottom right corner). Quadrant III is where both x and y are negative (the bottom left corner). Quadrant II is where x is negative but y is positive (the top left corner of the plane). Quadrant I is located where x and y is positive (the top right corner of the plane). QuadrantsĪ Cartesian plane's x and y axis divides up the plane into four quadrants. The abscissae refers to the horizontal part of a coordinate, this is, the x axis. The ordinate simply refers to the vertical portion of an ordered pair, that is, the y axis. You may come across the terms "axis of ordinates" and "axis of abscissae". Therefore, an ordered pair looks like this: (x, y). There is a specific way you're supposed to write them and it's that you write the horizontal distance before the vertical one. Keep in mind that it always comes in a pair since there's the x and y axis that you'll have to consider. When you write down a pair of coordinates to help other people locate something on a plane, you'll have to write it in a specific way. A Cartesian plane will always have both the x and y axis. The y axis is what you call the up-down direction. Therefore, x goes "across" on the Cartesian plane. A way to help you remember this is that "x" is a cross. ![]() The x axis is what you call the left-right direction of the plane. The main way that the Cartesian Coordinates System allows you to locate something is through its x and y axis. What are the elements to a Cartesian Coordinates System? Let's find out! X and Y Axis It uses a relationship between two variables. The Cartesian plane was created by René Descartes to help people identify where something was located on a map or a graph. ![]()
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