rectangular coordinates

Rectangular coordinates, also known as Cartesian coordinates, are a system for describing the position of points in space using perpendicular axes that intersect at an origin. Named after René Descartes, this system is fundamental to analytic geometry, allowing algebraic solutions to geometry problems.123

In a two-dimensional Cartesian plane, a horizontal x-axis and a vertical y-axis intersect at the origin (0,0). A point's location is identified by an ordered pair (x, y), representing its distance from the origin along each axis. These axes divide the plane into four quadrants. In three dimensions, a z-axis is added, creating coordinates (x, y, z) and dividing space into eight octants. This system is widely used in fields such as computer science and geography.1