Section 2.1 The Coordinate Plane

Before Starting this Section, Review

  1. 1 The number line (Section P.1 , page 6)

  2. 2 Equivalent equations (Section 1.1 , page 83)

  3. 3 Completing squares (Section 1.3 , page 109)

  4. 4 Interval notation (Section P.1 , page 8)

Objectives

  1. 1 Plot points in the Cartesian coordinate plane.

  2. 2 Find the distance between two points.

  3. 3 Find the midpoint of a line segment.

A Fly on the Ceiling

One day the French mathematician René Descartes noticed a fly buzzing around on a ceiling made of square tiles. He watched the fly and ...

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