MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS I

MODULE I

THE RECTANGULAR COORDINATE SYSTEM

At the end of this chapter, the students should be able to:

1. Define Analytic Geometry.
2. Know the fundamental concepts associated with rectangular coordinate system or Cartesian Plane.
3. Plot and draw regular polygons in rectangular coordinate system as a line segment.
4. Solve the distance between two points.
5. Find the area of a polygon using determinants.

Definition. Analytic Geometry is a branch of mathematics which deals with the study of the properties,
behaviors and solution of points, lines, angles, surfaces and solids by means of algebraic methods in relation to a
coordinate system. The study of Analytic Geometry is divided into two parts, the Plane Analytic Geometry and
Solid Geometry.
The Rectangular Coordinate System consists of two perpendicular lines, the x-axis which is the
horizontal line and the y-axis the vertical line. The intersection of the x-axis and the y-axis is called the origin.
The coordinate axes are divided into four quadrants, marked as I, II, III and IV. The x and y axis are subdivided
into units and they are marked on each axis and always written in one-to-one correspondence. The distance
unit measured from the origin to the right of x-axis are all positive in sign, while the distance unit from the origin
to the left of x-axis are all negative in sign. The distance unit measured from the origin upward of y-axis are
positive in sign and from the origin downward of y-axis are negative sign.
The coordinates of a point P( x, y ) in the rectangular coordinate system is called the ordered pair, they
are always written in pair and in parentheses. The first point written in an ordered pair is called the abscissa or
x-coordinate while the second point is called the ordinate or the y-coordinate. The sign of the abscissa and the
ordinate of a point on the first quadrant are both positive. On the second quadrant, the sign of the abscissa is
negative, the ordinate is positive. At the third quadrant, the abscissa and the ordinate of a point are both
negative in sign and at the fourth quadrant, the abscissa is positive while the ordinate is negative in sign.
 Y-axis

P( x, y )

II I

(−) X-axis
0

III IV

(−)

Locating or plotting of point whose coordinates are given is made easy by the use of rectangular
coordinate or graphing paper. To plot a point, measure off from the origin along the x-axis the number of units
in the abscissa to the right or to the left, from this terminal measure off parallel to the y-axis the number of
units in the ordinate, upward or downward, the intersection of the point is the coordinate of the desired point.
The coordinates of a fixed point whose numerical coordinates are given or not usually written in subscripts
likeP1( x1, y1 ), P2( x2, y2 ), Pn( xn , yn ).

Example. Plot the following points.

a) 𝐴(0, 0), b) 𝐵(2, 1), c) 𝐶(−3, 4), d) 𝑃(−4, −1), e) 𝑄(2, −3), f) 𝑅(4, 0), g) 𝑆(0, −1)
Line Segment and Directed Line Segment.
Connecting of two points that is called line segment. When a line segment is measured in a
definite sense or direction, it is known to be a directed line segment. If we measure the distance from
point A to point B and assigned it as a positive sign then the direction from the point B to point A is
negative.
A 𝐴𝐵(+) B

A 𝐴𝐵(−) B

Distance Between Two Points.

Consider the coordinates of two points be 𝑃1 ( 𝑥1 , 𝑦1 ) and 𝑃2 ( 𝑥2 , 𝑦2 ) and let d the distance
between them.
Y

P2( x2, y2 )

y2 – y1
y2
P1( x1,y1)
P3( x2, y1 )
y1
X
0

x1 x2 – x1
x2

DISTANCE FORMULA : By Pythagorean Theorem, solving for the distance from P1 to P2 we have:
2 2 2
̅̅̅̅̅̅
𝑃1 𝑃2 = ̅̅̅̅̅̅
𝑃1 𝑃3 + ̅̅̅̅̅̅
𝑃2 𝑃3
𝑑 2 = (𝑥2 − 𝑥1 )2 + (𝑦2 − 𝑦1 )2

𝒅 = √(𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝟏 )𝟐 + (𝒚𝟐 − 𝒚𝟏 )𝟐
This is known as the distance formula and the coordinates may be taken in reverse order because the
quantity in parentheses, whatever its sign, would become positive when squared.
Example 1. Find the distance between the points A(−3, 6 ) and B( 4, −2 ).

Solution: Using distance formula we have, x1 = −3, x2 = 4, y1 = 6 and y2 = −2

𝑑 = √(𝑥2 − 𝑥1 )2 + (𝑦2 − 𝑦1 )2
̅̅̅̅
𝐴𝐵 = √[4 − (−3)]2 + [−2 − 6 ]2
̅̅̅̅ = √(7)2 + (−8)2
𝐴𝐵
̅̅̅̅
𝐴𝐵 = √49 + 64
̅̅̅̅
𝑨𝑩 = √ 𝟏𝟏𝟑 units

Example 2. Show that the points A(−3, 1 ), B( 3, −1 ) and C( 1, 3 )are the vertices of an isosceles triangle.
Given: Three points 𝐴, 𝐵, and C, connect them together and show that the two sides of the triangle are
equal.
Solution: Solving for the sides of the triangle.
̅̅̅̅
𝐴𝐵 = √(−3 − 3)2 + (1 + 1)2 ̅̅̅̅
𝐴𝐶 = √(−3 − 1)2 + (1 − 3)2
̅̅̅̅ = √(−6)2 + (2)2
𝐴𝐵 ̅̅̅̅ = √(−4)2 + (−2)2
𝐴𝐶
̅̅̅̅
𝐴𝐵 = √36 + 4 ̅̅̅̅
𝐴𝐶 = √16 + 4
̅̅̅̅
𝐴𝐵 = √40 = 𝟐√𝟏𝟎 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒔 ̅̅̅̅
𝐴𝐶 = √20 = 𝟐√𝟓 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒔

̅̅̅̅ = √(3 − 1)2 + (−1 − 3)2

𝐵𝐶 since the length of the side 𝐴𝐶 and 𝐵𝐶 are equal,
̅̅̅̅
𝐵𝐶 = √(2)2 + (−4)2 therefore the triangle is an isosceles triangle.
̅̅̅̅
𝐵𝐶 = √4 + 16
̅̅̅̅
𝐵𝐶 = √20 = 𝟐√𝟓 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒔

Example 3. Show that the points P(−2, 1 ), Q( 5, −2 ) and R( 3, 3 ) are vertices of a right triangle.
Given: Three points 𝑃, 𝑄, and R, connect them together and find the length of the three sides. If the
square of the longest side is equal to the sum of the square of the other two sides, it is a right triangle.

𝑃𝑄 = √|−2 − 5|2 + |1 − (−2)|2 𝑄𝑅 = √|5 − 3|2 + |−2 − 3|2 𝑃𝑅 = √|−2 − 3|2 + |1 − 3|2

𝑃𝑄 = √|−7|2 + | 3 |2 𝑄𝑅 = √| 2 |2 + |−5 |2 𝑃𝑅 = √|−5|2 + |−2 |2

𝑃𝑄 = √ 49 + 9 𝑄𝑅 = √ 4 + 25 𝑃𝑅 = √ 25 + 4

𝑃𝑄 = √ 58 units 𝑄𝑅 = √ 29 units 𝑃𝑅 = √ 29 units

To show that the triangle is a right triangle, this must satisfies the Pythagorean Theorem:
̅̅̅̅
𝑃𝑄2 = ̅̅̅̅
𝑄𝑅2 + ̅̅̅̅
𝑃𝑅2
2 2 2
(√58 ) = (√29) + (√29)
58 = 58, it is a right triangle
Area of a Triangle formed the vertices 𝑷𝟏 (𝒙𝟏 , 𝒚𝟏 ), 𝑷𝟐 (𝒙𝟐 , 𝒚𝟐 ) and 𝑷𝟑 (𝒙𝟑 , 𝒚𝟑 )
By determinants using the coordinates of the point of a triangle, we can find the its area.
In Solid Geometry we learned how to find the area of a triangle, the right triangle and the oblique triangle using
the different formula.
Y-axis

P3( x3, y3 )
∎

o x-axis

P2( x2, y2 ) ∎

∎ P1( x1, y1)

+ + +
𝑥1 1 𝑥1 𝑦1
𝑦1
1
𝐴 = |𝑥2 1| 𝑥2 𝑦2 |
𝑦2
2
𝑥3 1 𝑥3 𝑦3
𝑦3
(-) (-) (-)
𝟏
𝑨 = [(𝒙𝟏 𝒚𝟐 + 𝒙𝟑 𝒚𝟏 + 𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟑 ) − (𝒙𝟑 𝒚𝟐 + 𝒙𝟏 𝒚𝟑 + 𝒙𝟐 𝒚𝟏 )]
𝟐

Example 8. Find the area of a triangle whose vertices are at point A( 5, −1 ), B(−1, 4 ) and C( 3, 6 ).

Solution: Using point C as the first point, a direction of counter clockwise, next coordinate is point B and
the third is the coordinate of point A. By determinants, the area of the triangle is;
5 −1 1 5 −1
1
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 = | 3 6 1| 3 6|
2
−1 4 1 −1 4
1
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 = 2 [(30 + 1 + 12) − (−6 + 20 − 3)]
1
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 = 2 [(43) − (11)]
1
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 = 2 (32) = 𝟏𝟔 square units