The Probert Encyclopaedia of Science & Technology

CO-ORDINATES

In geometry, co-ordinates is a term applied to two or more magnitudes which determine the position of a point with reference to fixed lines, points, etc. Co-ordinates either determine the position of a point in space or in a plane which is understood to contain all the figure under consideration. The most important system is that of Cartesian co-ordinates, in which the position of a point is determined by its distances from two fixed intersecting straight lines, called axes of co-ordinates. When the axes are at right angles to eath other (the commonest case) the system is called rectangular; otherwise it is it is oblique. The point of intersection of the axes is the origin. In the system of polar co-ordinates the determining magnitudes are a length and an angle.
Research Co-ordinates