Class 9 Mathematics Chapter 1 Orienting Yourself: The Use of Coordinates – Extra Questions with Answers

Locating a point on the Cartesian plane comes down to reading its abscissa and ordinate correctly, and these questions run through quadrants, axes, and coordinate notation.

Last Updated: September 23, 2026

Very Short Answer Questions (1 mark)

Q1. What are the coordinates of a point lying on the x-axis, in general form?
Ans: (x, 0).

Q2. In which quadrant does the point (5, −2) lie?
Ans: Quadrant IV.

Q3. What is the other name for the x-coordinate of a point?
Ans: Abscissa.

Q4. How many quadrants does the Cartesian plane have?
Ans: Four.

Q5. What are the coordinates of a point lying on the y-axis, in general form?
Ans: (0, y).

Short Answer Questions (2–3 marks)

Q6. Identify the quadrant (or axis) for each of these points: (3, 5), (−2, −7), (0, 4), (6, 0).
Ans: (3, 5) → Quadrant I; (−2, −7) → Quadrant III; (0, 4) → on the y-axis; (6, 0) → on the x-axis.

Q7. Explain why (2, 5) and (5, 2) represent two different points on the Cartesian plane.
Ans: Coordinates are ordered pairs, so the order matters: in (2, 5), the x-coordinate is 2 and y-coordinate is 5, while in (5, 2), the x-coordinate is 5 and y-coordinate is 2 — these describe two different positions relative to the axes, even though the same two numbers are used.

Q8. If a point has equal positive x and y coordinates, in which quadrant does it lie, and what shape does the set of all such points trace?
Ans: It lies in Quadrant I (since both coordinates are positive). The set of all such points (where x = y, both positive) traces a straight line through the origin at 45° to both axes.

Higher-Order Thinking / Application Questions

Q9. A point P is reflected across the x-axis to get point Q, and P has coordinates (4, 7). What are the coordinates of Q, and what general rule does this illustrate?
Ans: Q has coordinates (4, −7). This illustrates that reflecting a point across the x-axis keeps the x-coordinate the same but reverses the sign of the y-coordinate.

Q10. Four points form a rectangle: (1, 1), (5, 1), (5, 4), and (1, 4). Without drawing, determine the length and breadth of the rectangle using the coordinates.
Ans: The length (horizontal side) is the difference between x-coordinates of two points sharing the same y-coordinate: 5 − 1 = 4 units. The breadth (vertical side) is the difference between y-coordinates of two points sharing the same x-coordinate: 4 − 1 = 3 units. So the rectangle is 4 units by 3 units.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are two numbers, rather than just one, needed to describe the exact position of a point on a plane?
A plane has two independent directions, horizontal and vertical, so a single number can only describe position along one direction, while two numbers, the x and y coordinates, pinpoint an exact location.

What is the significance of the point where the x-axis and y-axis intersect?
This point is called the origin, and it serves as the reference point with coordinates (0, 0) from which the position of every other point on the plane is measured.

Written by Satish

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