Definition:Cartesian Coordinate System
Definition
A Cartesian coordinate system is a coordinate system in which the position of a point is determined by its relation to a set of perpendicular straight lines.
These straight lines are referred to as coordinate axes.
Also defined as
In the definition of a Cartesian coordinate system, some older sources do not specify that the coordinate axes have to be perpendicular.
That is, such sources include oblique coordinate systems in the category of Cartesian coordinate systems
Such sources then refer to a Cartesian coordinate system in which the axes are specifically perpendicular as a rectangular coordinate system.
However, this is non-standard, and the contemporary view is that Cartesian coordinate systems are rectangular by default.
Also known as
Cartesian coordinates are also known as rectangular coordinates or orthogonal coordinates.
Also see
- Definition:Rectangular Coordinate System
- Definition:Oblique Coordinate System
- Definition:Orthogonal Coordinate System
- Definition:Rectilinear Coordinate System
- Results about cartesian coordinate systems can be found here.
Source of Name
This entry was named for René Descartes.
Sources
- 1933: D.M.Y. Sommerville: Analytical Conics (3rd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text I$. Coordinates: $2$. Coordinates
- 1936: Richard Courant: Differential and Integral Calculus: Volume $\text { II }$ ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text I$: Preliminary Remarks on Analytical Geometry and Vector Analysis: $1$. Rectangular Co-ordinates and Vectors: $1$. Coordinate Axes
- 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Cartesian coordinate system
- 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Cartesian coordinate system
- 2010: Raymond M. Smullyan and Melvin Fitting: Set Theory and the Continuum Problem (revised ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $2$: Some Basics of Class-Set Theory: $\S 7$ Cartesian products: Remark