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Step-by-step explanation

Why learn this

Understanding how to use coordinate planes is an important building block in the contexts of science, technology, engineering, and math. They are critical to tracking how a relationship between two quantities, such as a virus and a group of people, changes over time; they are essential for creating touch-technology, like smartphones; they are critical in planning complex construction and engineering projects; and they are necessary for understanding a wide range of topics in algebra and geometry.

Coordinate planes are also hidden in plain sight! If you have ever seen people play chess, in a movie or in real life, you have probably heard them say something along the lines of: "rook to E4" or: "bishop to G3". E4 and G3 are both ordered pairs, in which the letter represents an x-coordinate, and the number represents a y-coordinate. Chess boards are coordinate planes (they just don't extend infinitely)!

Understanding coordinate planes probably won't change your life, but it will help you connect the dots on some fairly important concepts.