Coordinate Plane (4 Quadrants) • Topic 1 of 2

Plotting Points with Negative Coordinates

What are the 4 Quadrants?

The coordinate plane is divided into 4 quadrants by the x-axis (horizontal) and y-axis (vertical).

Quadrant II          |          Quadrant I
   (-, +)            |            (+, +)
                     |
                     |
---------------------+---------------------
                     |
                     |
Quadrant III         |          Quadrant IV
   (-, -)            |            (+, -)

Signs of Coordinates by Quadrant:

Quadrant	x-coordinate	y-coordinate	Example
Quadrant I	Positive (+)	Positive (+)	(3, 2)
Quadrant II	Negative (-)	Positive (+)	(-3, 2)
Quadrant III	Negative (-)	Negative (-)	(-3, -2)
Quadrant IV	Positive (+)	Negative (-)	(3, -2)

Plotting Points with Negatives:

Negative x → move LEFT from origin
Negative y → move DOWN from origin

COORDINATE PLANE - ALL 4 QUADRANTS:

    y-axis
       ↑
    5  │
    4  │
    3  │
    2  │        ● A(4,2)
    1  │
    0  └───┬───┬───┬───┬───→ x-axis
   -1  │
   -2  │                    ● D(5,-2)
   -3  │
   -4  │
   -5  │
       └────────────────────

But this only shows Quadrant I! Let's show all four:


     Quadrant II        │        Quadrant I
         (-,+)          │          (+,+)
                        │
        ● (-4,3)        │        ● (4,3)
                        │
                        │
    --------------------+-------------------
                        │
                        │
        ● (-4,-3)       │        ● (4,-3)
                        │
     Quadrant III       │        Quadrant IV
         (-,-)          │          (+,-)


FULL COORDINATE PLANE WITH ALL QUADRANTS:

    y
    5│           QII    │    QI
    4│                  │
    3│     ●(-3,2)      │   ●(4,2)
    2│                  │
    1│                  │
    0└──────────────────┼──────────────────→ x
   -1│                  │
   -2│                  │   ●(4,-2)
   -3│     ●(-3,-3)     │
   -4│         QIII     │    QIV
   -5│

Solved Examples

Worked Example

Plot the point A(-3, 2)

Solution

x = -3 → move LEFT 3 units from origin
y = 2 → move UP 2 units
Plot in Quadrant II
Answer: Point is in Quadrant II

Worked Example

Plot the point B(4, -2)

Solution

x = 4 → move RIGHT 4 units
y = -2 → move DOWN 2 units
Plot in Quadrant IV
Answer: Point is in Quadrant IV

Worked Example

Plot the point C(-2, -4)

Solution

x = -2 → move LEFT 2 units
y = -4 → move DOWN 4 units
Plot in Quadrant III
Answer: Point is in Quadrant III

Worked Example

Identify the quadrant of (-5, 1)

Solution

x = -5 (negative), y = 1 (positive)
Negative, Positive = Quadrant II
Answer: Quadrant II

Key Points

Quadrant I: (+, +) → Right, Up
Quadrant II: (-, +) → Left, Up
Quadrant III: (-, -) → Left, Down
Quadrant IV: (+, -) → Right, Down
Origin (0,0) is on axes, not in any quadrant

Quick Check — 4 MCQs

Tap an option to check your answer0 / 4

Q1.A point is written as the ordered pair:

Explanation: $(x,y)$.

Q2.In Quadrant I, the coordinates are:

Explanation: Both positive.

Q3.In which quadrant is $(-3,2)$?

Explanation: $(-,+)$.

Q4.The origin is:

Explanation: $(0,0)$.

Practice more MCQs → 📝 Assignment · 35 marks