This is an accepted version of this page
69-689: Coordinates : 38°57′56″N 77°04′32″W / 38.965573°N 77.075578°W / 38.965573; -77.075578 Chevy Chase Neighborhood Library [REDACTED] The library in 2016 [REDACTED] 38°57′56″N 77°04′32″W / 38.965573°N 77.075578°W / 38.965573; -77.075578 Location 5625 Connecticut Ave. NW Washington, DC 20015, United States Type Public library Branch of District of Columbia Public Library Other information Website https://www.dclibrary.org/chevychase The Chevy Chase Neighborhood Library
138-505: A tan ϕ {\displaystyle \textstyle {\tan \beta ={\frac {b}{a}}\tan \phi }\,\!} ; for the GRS 80 and WGS 84 spheroids, b a = 0.99664719 {\textstyle {\tfrac {b}{a}}=0.99664719} . ( β {\displaystyle \textstyle {\beta }\,\!} is known as the reduced (or parametric) latitude ). Aside from rounding, this
207-429: A Cartesian coordinate system ( UK : / k ɑːr ˈ t iː zj ə n / , US : / k ɑːr ˈ t iː ʒ ə n / ) in a plane is a coordinate system that specifies each point uniquely by a pair of real numbers called coordinates , which are the signed distances to the point from two fixed perpendicular oriented lines , called coordinate lines , coordinate axes or just axes (plural of axis ) of
276-460: A datum transformation such as a Helmert transformation , although in certain situations a simple translation may be sufficient. Datums may be global, meaning that they represent the whole Earth, or they may be local, meaning that they represent an ellipsoid best-fit to only a portion of the Earth. Examples of global datums include World Geodetic System (WGS 84, also known as EPSG:4326 ),
345-521: A , b ) to the Cartesian coordinates of every point in the set. That is, if the original coordinates of a point are ( x , y ) , after the translation they will be ( x ′ , y ′ ) = ( x + a , y + b ) . {\displaystyle (x',y')=(x+a,y+b).} To rotate a figure counterclockwise around the origin by some angle θ {\displaystyle \theta }
414-437: A common point (the origin ), and are pair-wise perpendicular; an orientation for each axis; and a single unit of length for all three axes. As in the two-dimensional case, each axis becomes a number line. For any point P of space, one considers a plane through P perpendicular to each coordinate axis, and interprets the point where that plane cuts the axis as a number. The Cartesian coordinates of P are those three numbers, in
483-468: A coordinate tuple like a cartesian coordinate system , the geographic coordinate system is not cartesian because the measurements are angles and are not on a planar surface. A full GCS specification, such as those listed in the EPSG and ISO 19111 standards, also includes a choice of geodetic datum (including an Earth ellipsoid ), as different datums will yield different latitude and longitude values for
552-449: A diagram ( 3D projection or 2D perspective drawing ) shows the x - and y -axis horizontally and vertically, respectively, then the z -axis should be shown pointing "out of the page" towards the viewer or camera. In such a 2D diagram of a 3D coordinate system, the z -axis would appear as a line or ray pointing down and to the left or down and to the right, depending on the presumed viewer or camera perspective . In any diagram or display,
621-407: A division of space into eight regions or octants , according to the signs of the coordinates of the points. The convention used for naming a specific octant is to list its signs; for example, (+ + +) or (− + −) . The generalization of the quadrant and octant to an arbitrary number of dimensions is the orthant , and a similar naming system applies. The Euclidean distance between two points of
690-522: A pair of axes was introduced later, after Descartes' La Géométrie was translated into Latin in 1649 by Frans van Schooten and his students. These commentators introduced several concepts while trying to clarify the ideas contained in Descartes's work. The development of the Cartesian coordinate system would play a fundamental role in the development of the calculus by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz . The two-coordinate description of
759-401: A point are usually written in parentheses and separated by commas, as in (10, 5) or (3, 5, 7) . The origin is often labelled with the capital letter O . In analytic geometry, unknown or generic coordinates are often denoted by the letters ( x , y ) in the plane, and ( x , y , z ) in three-dimensional space. This custom comes from a convention of algebra, which uses letters near the end of
SECTION 10
#1732787627158828-608: A point on Earth's surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses (often called great circles ), which converge at the North and South Poles. The meridian of the British Royal Observatory in Greenwich , in southeast London, England, is the international prime meridian , although some organizations—such as
897-422: A real variable , for example translation of the line corresponds to addition, and scaling the line corresponds to multiplication. Any two Cartesian coordinate systems on the line can be related to each-other by a linear function (function of the form x ↦ a x + b {\displaystyle x\mapsto ax+b} ) taking a specific point's coordinate in one system to its coordinate in
966-473: A region of the surface of the Earth. Some newer datums are bound to the center of mass of the Earth. This combination of mathematical model and physical binding mean that anyone using the same datum will obtain the same location measurement for the same physical location. However, two different datums will usually yield different location measurements for the same physical location, which may appear to differ by as much as several hundred meters; this not because
1035-508: A single unit of length for both axes, and an orientation for each axis. The point where the axes meet is taken as the origin for both, thus turning each axis into a number line. For any point P , a line is drawn through P perpendicular to each axis, and the position where it meets the axis is interpreted as a number. The two numbers, in that chosen order, are the Cartesian coordinates of P . The reverse construction allows one to determine
1104-411: Is 6,367,449 m . Since the Earth is an oblate spheroid , not spherical, that result can be off by several tenths of a percent; a better approximation of a longitudinal degree at latitude ϕ {\displaystyle \phi } is where Earth's equatorial radius a {\displaystyle a} equals 6,378,137 m and tan β = b
1173-480: Is 110.6 km. The circles of longitude, meridians, meet at the geographical poles, with the west–east width of a second naturally decreasing as latitude increases. On the Equator at sea level, one longitudinal second measures 30.92 m, a longitudinal minute is 1855 m and a longitudinal degree is 111.3 km. At 30° a longitudinal second is 26.76 m, at Greenwich (51°28′38″N) 19.22 m, and at 60° it
1242-522: Is 15.42 m. On the WGS 84 spheroid, the length in meters of a degree of latitude at latitude ϕ (that is, the number of meters you would have to travel along a north–south line to move 1 degree in latitude, when at latitude ϕ ), is about The returned measure of meters per degree latitude varies continuously with latitude. Similarly, the length in meters of a degree of longitude can be calculated as (Those coefficients can be improved, but as they stand
1311-1146: Is a branch of the District of Columbia Public Library in the Chevy Chase neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is located at 5625 Connecticut Avenue NW. The neighborhood's first public library opened in 1920 and relocated several times before its current building opened in 1968. References [ edit ] ^ "Chevy Chase Library" . District of Columbia Public Library . 2010-09-14 . Retrieved 2019-05-19 . ^ "Chevy Chase Library History" . District of Columbia Public Library . 2009-07-22 . Retrieved 2019-05-19 . External links [ edit ] Official website Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chevy_Chase_Neighborhood_Library&oldid=942470664 " Category : Public libraries in Washington, D.C. Hidden categories: Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas Infobox mapframe without OSM relation ID on Wikidata Coordinates on Wikidata Pages using
1380-465: Is called a Cartesian plane . In a Cartesian plane, one can define canonical representatives of certain geometric figures, such as the unit circle (with radius equal to the length unit, and center at the origin), the unit square (whose diagonal has endpoints at (0, 0) and (1, 1) ), the unit hyperbola , and so on. The two axes divide the plane into four right angles , called quadrants . The quadrants may be named or numbered in various ways, but
1449-456: Is known as a graticule . The origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km (390 mi) south of Tema , Ghana , a location often facetiously called Null Island . In order to use the theoretical definitions of latitude, longitude, and height to precisely measure actual locations on the physical earth, a geodetic datum must be used. A horizonal datum
SECTION 20
#17327876271581518-514: Is obtained by projecting the point onto one axis along a direction that is parallel to the other axis (or, in general, to the hyperplane defined by all the other axes). In such an oblique coordinate system the computations of distances and angles must be modified from that in standard Cartesian systems, and many standard formulas (such as the Pythagorean formula for the distance) do not hold (see affine plane ). The Cartesian coordinates of
1587-879: Is the Cartesian version of Pythagoras's theorem . In three-dimensional space, the distance between points ( x 1 , y 1 , z 1 ) {\displaystyle (x_{1},y_{1},z_{1})} and ( x 2 , y 2 , z 2 ) {\displaystyle (x_{2},y_{2},z_{2})} is d = ( x 2 − x 1 ) 2 + ( y 2 − y 1 ) 2 + ( z 2 − z 1 ) 2 , {\displaystyle d={\sqrt {(x_{2}-x_{1})^{2}+(y_{2}-y_{1})^{2}+(z_{2}-z_{1})^{2}}},} which can be obtained by two consecutive applications of Pythagoras' theorem. The Euclidean transformations or Euclidean motions are
1656-555: Is the concept of the graph of a function . Cartesian coordinates are also essential tools for most applied disciplines that deal with geometry, including astronomy , physics , engineering and many more. They are the most common coordinate system used in computer graphics , computer-aided geometric design and other geometry-related data processing . The adjective Cartesian refers to the French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes , who published this idea in 1637 while he
1725-644: Is the exact distance along a parallel of latitude; getting the distance along the shortest route will be more work, but those two distances are always within 0.6 m of each other if the two points are one degree of longitude apart. Like any series of multiple-digit numbers, latitude-longitude pairs can be challenging to communicate and remember. Therefore, alternative schemes have been developed for encoding GCS coordinates into alphanumeric strings or words: These are not distinct coordinate systems, only alternative methods for expressing latitude and longitude measurements. Cartesian coordinate system In geometry ,
1794-454: Is the set of all real numbers. In the same way, the points in any Euclidean space of dimension n be identified with the tuples (lists) of n real numbers; that is, with the Cartesian product R n {\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{n}} . The concept of Cartesian coordinates generalizes to allow axes that are not perpendicular to each other, and/or different units along each axis. In that case, each coordinate
1863-465: Is used to precisely measure latitude and longitude, while a vertical datum is used to measure elevation or altitude. Both types of datum bind a mathematical model of the shape of the earth (usually a reference ellipsoid for a horizontal datum, and a more precise geoid for a vertical datum) to the earth. Traditionally, this binding was created by a network of control points , surveyed locations at which monuments are installed, and were only accurate for
1932-501: Is usually named after the coordinate which is measured along it; so one says the x-axis , the y-axis , the t-axis , etc. Another common convention for coordinate naming is to use subscripts, as ( x 1 , x 2 , ..., x n ) for the n coordinates in an n -dimensional space, especially when n is greater than 3 or unspecified. Some authors prefer the numbering ( x 0 , x 1 , ..., x n −1 ). These notations are especially advantageous in computer programming : by storing
2001-481: The International Date Line , which diverges from it in several places for political and convenience reasons, including between far eastern Russia and the far western Aleutian Islands . The combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The visual grid on a map formed by lines of latitude and longitude
2070-479: The area , the perimeter and the tangent line at any point can be computed from this equation by using integrals and derivatives , in a way that can be applied to any curve. Cartesian coordinates are the foundation of analytic geometry , and provide enlightening geometric interpretations for many other branches of mathematics, such as linear algebra , complex analysis , differential geometry , multivariate calculus , group theory and more. A familiar example
2139-405: The xy -plane, yz -plane, and xz -plane. In mathematics, physics, and engineering contexts, the first two axes are often defined or depicted as horizontal, with the third axis pointing up. In that case the third coordinate may be called height or altitude . The orientation is usually chosen so that the 90-degree angle from the first axis to the second axis looks counter-clockwise when seen from
Chevy Chase Neighborhood Library - Misplaced Pages Continue
2208-416: The z -coordinate is sometimes called the applicate . The words abscissa , ordinate and applicate are sometimes used to refer to coordinate axes rather than the coordinate values. The axes of a two-dimensional Cartesian system divide the plane into four infinite regions, called quadrants , each bounded by two half-axes. These are often numbered from 1st to 4th and denoted by Roman numerals : I (where
2277-457: The ( bijective ) mappings of points of the Euclidean plane to themselves which preserve distances between points. There are four types of these mappings (also called isometries): translations , rotations , reflections and glide reflections . Translating a set of points of the plane, preserving the distances and directions between them, is equivalent to adding a fixed pair of numbers (
2346-526: The 1st or 2nd century, Marinus of Tyre compiled an extensive gazetteer and mathematically plotted world map using coordinates measured east from a prime meridian at the westernmost known land, designated the Fortunate Isles , off the coast of western Africa around the Canary or Cape Verde Islands , and measured north or south of the island of Rhodes off Asia Minor . Ptolemy credited him with
2415-406: The Cartesian system, commonly learn the order to read the values before cementing the x -, y -, and z -axis concepts, by starting with 2D mnemonics (for example, 'Walk along the hall then up the stairs' akin to straight across the x -axis then up vertically along the y -axis). Computer graphics and image processing , however, often use a coordinate system with the y -axis oriented downwards on
2484-506: The Earth's surface move relative to each other due to continental plate motion, subsidence, and diurnal Earth tidal movement caused by the Moon and the Sun. This daily movement can be as much as a meter. Continental movement can be up to 10 cm a year, or 10 m in a century. A weather system high-pressure area can cause a sinking of 5 mm . Scandinavia is rising by 1 cm a year as a result of
2553-729: The European ED50 , and the British OSGB36 . Given a location, the datum provides the latitude ϕ {\displaystyle \phi } and longitude λ {\displaystyle \lambda } . In the United Kingdom there are three common latitude, longitude, and height systems in use. WGS 84 differs at Greenwich from the one used on published maps OSGB36 by approximately 112 m. The military system ED50 , used by NATO , differs from about 120 m to 180 m. Points on
2622-536: The French Institut national de l'information géographique et forestière —continue to use other meridians for internal purposes. The prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres , although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E. This is not to be conflated with
2691-507: The Kartographer extension Geographic coordinate system A geographic coordinate system ( GCS ) is a spherical or geodetic coordinate system for measuring and communicating positions directly on Earth as latitude and longitude . It is the simplest, oldest and most widely used of the various spatial reference systems that are in use, and forms the basis for most others. Although latitude and longitude form
2760-406: The alphabet for unknown values (such as the coordinates of points in many geometric problems), and letters near the beginning for given quantities. These conventional names are often used in other domains, such as physics and engineering, although other letters may be used. For example, in a graph showing how a pressure varies with time , the graph coordinates may be denoted p and t . Each axis
2829-577: The center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels , as they are parallel to the Equator and to each other. The North Pole is 90° N; the South Pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the Equator , the fundamental plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The Equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres . The longitude λ of
Chevy Chase Neighborhood Library - Misplaced Pages Continue
2898-1371: The chosen order. The reverse construction determines the point P given its three coordinates. Alternatively, each coordinate of a point P can be taken as the distance from P to the plane defined by the other two axes, with the sign determined by the orientation of the corresponding axis. Each pair of axes defines a coordinate plane . These planes divide space into eight octants . The octants are: ( + x , + y , + z ) ( − x , + y , + z ) ( + x , − y , + z ) ( + x , + y , − z ) ( + x , − y , − z ) ( − x , + y , − z ) ( − x , − y , + z ) ( − x , − y , − z ) {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}(+x,+y,+z)&&(-x,+y,+z)&&(+x,-y,+z)&&(+x,+y,-z)\\(+x,-y,-z)&&(-x,+y,-z)&&(-x,-y,+z)&&(-x,-y,-z)\end{aligned}}} The coordinates are usually written as three numbers (or algebraic formulas) surrounded by parentheses and separated by commas, as in (3, −2.5, 1) or ( t , u + v , π /2) . Thus,
2967-407: The computer display. This convention developed in the 1960s (or earlier) from the way that images were originally stored in display buffers . For three-dimensional systems, a convention is to portray the xy -plane horizontally, with the z -axis added to represent height (positive up). Furthermore, there is a convention to orient the x -axis toward the viewer, biased either to the right or left. If
3036-413: The coordinates both have positive signs), II (where the abscissa is negative − and the ordinate is positive +), III (where both the abscissa and the ordinate are −), and IV (abscissa +, ordinate −). When the axes are drawn according to the mathematical custom, the numbering goes counter-clockwise starting from the upper right ("north-east") quadrant. Similarly, a three-dimensional Cartesian system defines
3105-455: The coordinates of a point as an array , instead of a record , the subscript can serve to index the coordinates. In mathematical illustrations of two-dimensional Cartesian systems, the first coordinate (traditionally called the abscissa ) is measured along a horizontal axis, oriented from left to right. The second coordinate (the ordinate ) is then measured along a vertical axis, usually oriented from bottom to top. Young children learning
3174-649: The default datum used for the Global Positioning System , and the International Terrestrial Reference System and Frame (ITRF), used for estimating continental drift and crustal deformation . The distance to Earth's center can be used both for very deep positions and for positions in space. Local datums chosen by a national cartographical organization include the North American Datum ,
3243-490: The distance they give is correct within a centimeter.) The formulae both return units of meters per degree. An alternative method to estimate the length of a longitudinal degree at latitude ϕ {\displaystyle \phi } is to assume a spherical Earth (to get the width per minute and second, divide by 60 and 3600, respectively): where Earth's average meridional radius M r {\displaystyle \textstyle {M_{r}}\,\!}
3312-425: The expression of problems of geometry in terms of algebra and calculus . Using the Cartesian coordinate system, geometric shapes (such as curves ) can be described by equations involving the coordinates of points of the shape. For example, a circle of radius 2, centered at the origin of the plane, may be described as the set of all points whose coordinates x and y satisfy the equation x + y = 4 ;
3381-474: The full adoption of longitude and latitude, rather than measuring latitude in terms of the length of the midsummer day. Ptolemy's 2nd-century Geography used the same prime meridian but measured latitude from the Equator instead. After their work was translated into Arabic in the 9th century, Al-Khwārizmī 's Book of the Description of the Earth corrected Marinus' and Ptolemy's errors regarding
3450-781: The length of the Mediterranean Sea , causing medieval Arabic cartography to use a prime meridian around 10° east of Ptolemy's line. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes ' recovery of Ptolemy's text a little before 1300; the text was translated into Latin at Florence by Jacopo d'Angelo around 1407. In 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference , attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt
3519-400: The line can be chosen as a unit, with the orientation indicating the correspondence between directions along the line and positive or negative numbers. Each point corresponds to its signed distance from the origin (a number with an absolute value equal to the distance and a + or − sign chosen based on direction). A geometric transformation of the line can be represented by a function of
SECTION 50
#17327876271583588-486: The line. There are two degrees of freedom in the choice of Cartesian coordinate system for a line, which can be specified by choosing two distinct points along the line and assigning them to two distinct real numbers (most commonly zero and one). Other points can then be uniquely assigned to numbers by linear interpolation . Equivalently, one point can be assigned to a specific real number, for instance an origin point corresponding to zero, and an oriented length along
3657-461: The location has moved, but because the reference system used to measure it has shifted. Because any spatial reference system or map projection is ultimately calculated from latitude and longitude, it is crucial that they clearly state the datum on which they are based. For example, a UTM coordinate based on WGS84 will be different than a UTM coordinate based on NAD27 for the same location. Converting coordinates from one datum to another requires
3726-595: The longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich , England as the zero-reference line. The Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911. The latitude ϕ of a point on Earth's surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through (or close to)
3795-463: The melting of the ice sheets of the last ice age , but neighboring Scotland is rising by only 0.2 cm . These changes are insignificant if a local datum is used, but are statistically significant if a global datum is used. On the GRS 80 or WGS 84 spheroid at sea level at the Equator, one latitudinal second measures 30.715 m , one latitudinal minute is 1843 m and one latitudinal degree
3864-412: The orientation of the three axes, as a whole, is arbitrary. However, the orientation of the axes relative to each other should always comply with the right-hand rule , unless specifically stated otherwise. All laws of physics and math assume this right-handedness , which ensures consistency. For 3D diagrams, the names "abscissa" and "ordinate" are rarely used for x and y , respectively. When they are,
3933-429: The origin has coordinates (0, 0, 0) , and the unit points on the three axes are (1, 0, 0) , (0, 1, 0) , and (0, 0, 1) . Standard names for the coordinates in the three axes are abscissa , ordinate and applicate . The coordinates are often denoted by the letters x , y , and z . The axes may then be referred to as the x -axis, y -axis, and z -axis, respectively. Then the coordinate planes can be referred to as
4002-424: The other system. Choosing a coordinate system for each of two different lines establishes an affine map from one line to the other taking each point on one line to the point on the other line with the same coordinate. A Cartesian coordinate system in two dimensions (also called a rectangular coordinate system or an orthogonal coordinate system ) is defined by an ordered pair of perpendicular lines (axes),
4071-456: The plane was later generalized into the concept of vector spaces . Many other coordinate systems have been developed since Descartes, such as the polar coordinates for the plane, and the spherical and cylindrical coordinates for three-dimensional space. An affine line with a chosen Cartesian coordinate system is called a number line . Every point on the line has a real-number coordinate, and every real number represents some point on
4140-520: The plane with Cartesian coordinates ( x 1 , y 1 ) {\displaystyle (x_{1},y_{1})} and ( x 2 , y 2 ) {\displaystyle (x_{2},y_{2})} is d = ( x 2 − x 1 ) 2 + ( y 2 − y 1 ) 2 . {\displaystyle d={\sqrt {(x_{2}-x_{1})^{2}+(y_{2}-y_{1})^{2}}}.} This
4209-468: The point (0, 0, 1) ; a convention that is commonly called the right-hand rule . Since Cartesian coordinates are unique and non-ambiguous, the points of a Cartesian plane can be identified with pairs of real numbers ; that is, with the Cartesian product R 2 = R × R {\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{2}=\mathbb {R} \times \mathbb {R} } , where R {\displaystyle \mathbb {R} }
SECTION 60
#17327876271584278-409: The point P given its coordinates. The first and second coordinates are called the abscissa and the ordinate of P , respectively; and the point where the axes meet is called the origin of the coordinate system. The coordinates are usually written as two numbers in parentheses, in that order, separated by a comma, as in (3, −10.5) . Thus the origin has coordinates (0, 0) , and the points on
4347-430: The point to three mutually perpendicular planes. More generally, n Cartesian coordinates specify the point in an n -dimensional Euclidean space for any dimension n . These coordinates are the signed distances from the point to n mutually perpendicular fixed hyperplanes . Cartesian coordinates are named for René Descartes , whose invention of them in the 17th century revolutionized mathematics by allowing
4416-410: The positive half-axes, one unit away from the origin, have coordinates (1, 0) and (0, 1) . In mathematics, physics, and engineering, the first axis is usually defined or depicted as horizontal and oriented to the right, and the second axis is vertical and oriented upwards. (However, in some computer graphics contexts, the ordinate axis may be oriented downwards.) The origin is often labeled O , and
4485-470: The quadrant where all coordinates are positive is usually called the first quadrant . If the coordinates of a point are ( x , y ) , then its distances from the X -axis and from the Y -axis are | y | and | x |, respectively; where | · | denotes the absolute value of a number. A Cartesian coordinate system for a three-dimensional space consists of an ordered triplet of lines (the axes ) that go through
4554-512: The same location. The invention of a geographic coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene , who composed his now-lost Geography at the Library of Alexandria in the 3rd century BC. A century later, Hipparchus of Nicaea improved on this system by determining latitude from stellar measurements rather than solar altitude and determining longitude by timings of lunar eclipses , rather than dead reckoning . In
4623-402: The system. The point where the axes meet is called the origin and has (0, 0) as coordinates. The axes directions represent an orthogonal basis . The combination of origin and basis forms a coordinate frame called the Cartesian frame . Similarly, the position of any point in three-dimensional space can be specified by three Cartesian coordinates , which are the signed distances from
4692-409: The two coordinates are often denoted by the letters X and Y , or x and y . The axes may then be referred to as the X -axis and Y -axis. The choices of letters come from the original convention, which is to use the latter part of the alphabet to indicate unknown values. The first part of the alphabet was used to designate known values. A Euclidean plane with a chosen Cartesian coordinate system
4761-518: Was resident in the Netherlands . It was independently discovered by Pierre de Fermat , who also worked in three dimensions, although Fermat did not publish the discovery. The French cleric Nicole Oresme used constructions similar to Cartesian coordinates well before the time of Descartes and Fermat. Both Descartes and Fermat used a single axis in their treatments and have a variable length measured in reference to this axis. The concept of using
#157842