Which term is defined as a coordinate system where coordinates are distances from perpendicular lines that intersect at the origin?

Which term is defined as a coordinate system where coordinates are distances from perpendicular lines that intersect at the origin?

• A. Cartesian coordinate system
• B. Sector Reference System
• C. Public Land Survey System
• D. Coordinate system

Answer: (A)

In this setup, location is described by distances from two perpendicular lines that meet at the origin—the x-axis and the y-axis. This is the Cartesian coordinate system. Each point is given by a pair (x, y), where x is how far to move along the horizontal direction from the origin and y is how far to move along the vertical direction. The signs indicate direction: x positive is to the right, x negative to the left; y positive is up, y negative is down. The origin is the intersection (0, 0). This framework directly uses perpendicular axes that intersect at the origin to specify every point, which is why it’s the Cartesian system.

In this setup, location is described by distances from two perpendicular lines that meet at the origin—the x-axis and the y-axis. This is the Cartesian coordinate system. Each point is given by a pair (x, y), where x is how far to move along the horizontal direction from the origin and y is how far to move along the vertical direction. The signs indicate direction: x positive is to the right, x negative to the left; y positive is up, y negative is down. The origin is the intersection (0, 0). This framework directly uses perpendicular axes that intersect at the origin to specify every point, which is why it’s the Cartesian system.