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Where are positive and negative values located on the x-axis and y-axis?
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analytic geometry
The conic sections result from intersecting a plane with a double cone, as shown in the figure. There are three distinct families of conic sections: the ellipse (including the circle), the parabola (with one branch), and the hyperbola (with two branches).
In the Cartesian coordinate system used in analytic geometry, the position of points is determined by their distance from the origin, where the horizontal x-axis and vertical y-axis intersect.12
The location of positive and negative values is defined as follows:
- x-axis: Positive values are located to the right of the origin, while negative values are located to the left.1
- y-axis: Positive values are located above the origin, while negative values are located below.1
These axes divide the plane into four quadrants based on the signs of the coordinates:
* Quadrant I: x is positive, y is positive.
* Quadrant II: x is negative, y is positive.
* Quadrant III: x is negative, y is negative.
* Quadrant IV: x is positive, y is negative.1