Cartesian coordinates provide a way to specify the position of a point in a two-dimensional or three-dimensional space using a pair (for 2D) or triplet (for 3D) of numerical values.
In a 2D Cartesian coordinate system, each point is determined by an ordered pair (x, y). The ‘x’ value represents the horizontal position, while the ‘y’ value indicates the vertical position. For instance, the point (3, 4) would be located 3 units to the right of the origin (0, 0) and 4 units up.
Similarly, in a 3D Cartesian coordinate system, the position of a point is identified by a triplet (x, y, z), where ‘z’ represents the depth. For example, the point (2, 3, 5) is positioned 2 units along the x-axis, 3 units along the y-axis, and 5 units up along the z-axis.
Understanding Cartesian coordinates is fundamental in mathematics, physics, engineering, and various fields of science, as it allows for the precise description of locations and the relationships between points in space.