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Ordered Pair

Definition Of Ordered Pair

A pair of numbers used to locate a point on a coordinate plane is called an ordered pair.

An ordered pair is written in the form (x, y) where x is the x-coordinate and y is the y-coordinate.

More About Ordered Pair

In three-dimensional cordinates, (x, y, z) gives the location of a point. It is called an ordered triple.
The ordered pair (5, -2) means the point is located 5 units right and 2 units down the origin.
The point of intersection of the x- and y- axes is called the origin. The ordered pair that describes the origin is (0, 0).

Examples of Ordered Pair

Following are some examples of ordered pairs.
(5, -2), (0, 0), (2, 5), (0.3, - 0.7)

Video Examples: Ordered Pair

Solved Example on Ordered Pair

Ques: Graph the ordered pair (- 4, 3) on the coordinate plane and call it A.

Choices:

A. Graph 1
B. Graph 2
C. Graph 3
D. Graph 4
Correct answer: A

Solution:

Step 1: Start at the origin.
Step 2: The x-coordinate of the given ordered pair is - 4. So, move 4 units to the left of the y-axis.
Step 3: The y-coordinate of the given ordered pair is 3. So, move 3 units up from the x-axis.
Step 4: Draw a dot and label it A. The graph would look like the one below.

   
Step 5: Among the given graphs, Graph 1 matches with our graph.