Coordinate geometry and real life By Zani Alam

Rene ‘ Descartes Was a philosopher, mathematician and scientist. Descartes refused to believe anything until he had established grounds for believing it was true. He decided that the only thing he could not doubt was that he doubted. This ;led him to the famous conclusion: “I think therefore I am” Descartes was born in France. After studying law, and mathematics, Descartes joined the army. One day while he was walking through the streets, he noticed a large placard. It showed a problem in geometry and challenged anyone to find a solution. He was intrigued and decided to try it. Descartes found the solution. This experience prompted him to pursue further studies in pure mathematics. He made many contributions in mathematics especially in geometry. “Cartesian geometry or Cartesian plane”. The word Cartesian comes form Cartesius the Latin form of Descartes’ name. He began to use Cartesian coordinates, which are the numbers given to a point to identify its position.

To locate points you need to use the Cartesian plane To locate points you need to use the Cartesian plane. This method was invented by Rene’ Descartes in 17th centaury. Vocabulary; Coordinates: An ordered pair of (x , y) of numbers that describes the position of a point on the number plane. Cartesian plane: another name for the number plane, which is a grid formed by a horizontal axis and a vertical axis.

Real life application of coordinate geometry For locating points and finding the distance between two points In astrophysics to find the distance between the planets, coordinate geometry helps. Real life application of coordinate geometry In Geography also it has many applications For everyday activities: reading street directories For finding the distance between the places For monitoring of traffic flow, coordinates provide an accurate method for indicating position.