On a graph, the quadrants are the four regions created by the intersection of the x-axis and y-axis. They are denoted by Roman numerals I, II, III, and IV, and each quadrant has its own properties. The quadrants are named in a counterclockwise order, starting with Quadrant I in the upper right-hand corner of the graph. The signs of the x and y coordinates of a point in each quadrant follow a pattern, which can be used to determine the quadrant of a point without even graphing it. The four quadrants are:
-
Quadrant I: The upper right quadrant where both the x-axis and y-axis have positive numbers.
-
Quadrant II: The upper left quadrant where the x-axis has negative numbers and the y-axis has positive numbers.
-
Quadrant III: The lower left quadrant where both the x-axis and y-axis have negative numbers.
-
Quadrant IV: The lower right quadrant where the x-axis has positive numbers and the y-axis has negative numbers.
The quadrants are used to explain the position of a point on the coordinate plane. The numbers in the quadrant are expressed in the ordered pair (a, b), where a is the x-coordinate and b is the y-coordinate. To plot a point in the four quadrants, we need to observe the signs of an x-coordinate (also called abscissa) and a y-coordinate (also called ordinate).