The x-coordinate represents the horizontal shift, starting from the origin, and the y-coordinate represents the vertical shift.
Graph:
Location: Quadrant III
Practice makes perfect
An ( x, y) ordered pair is plotted in a coordinate plane by finding the x-coordinate on the horizontal axis and the y-coordinate on the vertical axis. For the given point, C( -4, -2), this means tracing four units in the negative horizontal direction, then two units in the negative vertical direction.
To determine C's quadrant, we will count counter-clockwise starting from the upper-right. The given point lies in Quadrant III.
Extra
Visualizing Quadrants
To help you visualize each of the different quadrants, we have also included the graphic below.
