What are coordinates?

Coordinates are two numbers used to describe a point's position on a grid.
Grids have two axes. The horizontal axis is called the x-axis and the vertical axis is called the y-axis.
Coordinates are always written like this (2, 3).
The first number is the point's position on the x-axis (horizontal axis) and the second tells you its position on the y-axis (vertical axis).

Activity: What are coordinates?
Complete this interactive activity to understand what coordinates are, then put your knowledge to the test.
Understanding coordinates on a grid
Coordinates can help you find an exact location on a grid.
You have two axes on the grid: the x-axis (horizontal) and the y-axis (vertical).
To find a point's coordinates, first read along the x-axis and then up the y-axis.

On the grid above, the point is 4 units along the x-axis and 3 units up the y-axis. Its coordinates are (4, 3).
If the point moves 2 units left and 1 unit down, the new coordinates will be (2, 2).
Its new position is shown on the grid below.

Example 1

What are the coordinates of the circle?
And, what are the coordinates of the square?
✓ The coordinates of the circle are (3, 4) and the coordinates of the square are (5, 1).
To work out the coordinates of the circle you can follow these steps:
Step 1 - Go along the x-axis to see which number the circle is in line with. It is 3.
Step 2 - Now see which number the circle is opposite to on the y-axis. It is 4.
Step 3 - Write the numbers as coordinates (3, 4).
To work out the coordinates of the square follow these steps:
Step 1 - Read which number the square is opposite to on the x-axis. It is 5.
Step 2 - Now see which number the square is in line with on the y-axis. It is 1.
Step 3 - Write the numbers as coordinates (5, 1).

Example 2

Kevin thinks that the triangle’s coordinates are (4, 2). Is he correct?
✓ Kevin is incorrect. The triangle's coordinates are (2, 4).
The first thing you need to do is to read the triangle’s coordinates for yourself.
The triangle is at 2 on the x-axis and 4 on the y-axis.
The triangle's coordinates should be written as (2, 4).
Kevin is wrong because he has mixed up the order of the x and y-axis positions when writing the coordinates. The x-axis position shoud always go first.

Example 3

The hexagon is at the coordinates (3, 1).
If the hexagon moves two units right and one unit down, what will its new coordinates be?
✓ The new coordinates of the hexagon will be (5, 0).
First start at 3 and move two units right along the x or horizontal axis. This is 5.
Then start at 1 and move one unit down the y or vertical axis. This is 0.
When a point is on the line of the axis the coordinate is 0.

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More on Coordinates
Find out more by working through a topic
- count2 of 4
- count3 of 4
- count4 of 4