In an ordered pair, the x-coordinate comes first and the y-coordinate comes second.
Practice makes perfect
In an ( x, y) ordered pair, the first number tells us the x-coordinate of the point and the second number tells us the y-coordinate of the point. We want to graph F( -4.5, 0), so we first find -4.5 on the x-axis and its corresponding vertical line. The x-coordinate -4.5 tells us to move 4.5 units to the left of the origin — the negative horizontal direction.
Next, we find 0 on the y-axis and follow this grid line until it collides with the line from our x-coordinate. The y-coordinate 0 tells us not to move up or down.
The point F( -4.5, 0) lies on the point at which these two lines intersect.
