Cartesian Coordinate System
The prototypical example of a coordinate system is the Cartesian coordinate system. In the plane, two perpendicular lines are chosen and the coordinates of a point are taken to be the signed distances to the lines.
In three dimensions, three perpendicular planes are chosen and the three coordinates of a point are the signed distances to each of the planes. This can be generalized to create n coordinates for any point in n-dimensional Euclidean space.
Read more about this topic: Coordinate System
Famous quotes containing the word system:
“Books are for the most part willfully and hastily written, as parts of a system to supply a want real or imagined.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)