Coordinate Meaning

By | April 17, 2022

Coordinate is a concept that is used in geometry and that allows us to name the lines that are used to establish the position of a point and the planes or axes linked to them.

The set of values that allow the position of a point in a Euclidean space (a type of geometric space) to be unequivocally identified is known as a coordinate system. The simplest coordinate systems are defined over flat spaces.

The notion of origin of coordinates refers to the point that acts as a reference within the framework of a coordinate system. This means that, at that point, the value of all the coordinates of the system has null (in the case of a two-dimensional system, 0,0).

According to abbreviationfinder.org, the coordinates are lines that allow to determine the position of a point and the axes related to them.

Cartesian coordinates

Within the field of Geometry, we cannot ignore the existence of what is known as Cartesian coordinates, which are also known by the name of rectangular coordinates. They can be defined as that reference system that is used to locate and place a specific point in a certain space, taking as reference what the X, Y and Z axes are.

More specifically, those are identified because there are two axes that are perpendicular to each other and that also intersect at a point called the origin. Likewise, it should be underlined that the X coordinate is called abscissa and the Y coordinate is called ordinate.

In addition to the above, it should be made known that these Cartesian coordinates are named in honor of the French mathematician René Descartes who developed his well-known analytical geometry and who used what is known as the origin of coordinates as its central axis.

Within the aforementioned field we cannot forget the existence of the polar coordinate. This is the one used to establish the position of a specific point in a plane, having the point and the pole as references.

Likewise, we find the concept of coordinate plane, which is the denomination used to refer to each of the three planes that intersect at a certain point and that are vital to be able to proceed to establish the position of other points by means of coordinate lines. existing.

The concept of celestial coordinate is used in astronomy.

The concept in geography

Geographical coordinates, on the other hand, constitute a subtype of the so-called spherical coordinates since they allow defining points on the Earth (a spherical surface). Although there are different kinds of coordinates, the most frequent system is the one that uses latitude and longitude (for example, 53:24.2-120:25.0)

Latitude (north or south) and longitude (east or west) allow us to know the lateral angles of the Earth’s surface. Both angular coordinates, which are measured from the center of the planet, are part of a spherical coordinate system that is aligned with its axis of rotation.

Celestial coordinates

Celestial coordinates, on the other hand, are the values that indicate the position of a body on the celestial sphere according to a certain reference system.

According to the reference plane and its origin, different celestial coordinates appear.

Coordinate