Definition:Orientation of Coordinate Axes/Cartesian Plane/Left-Handed
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
This page is about orientation in the context of analytic geometry. For other uses, see orientation.
Definition
A Cartesian plane is defined as being left-handed if it has the following property:
Let a left hand be placed, with palm uppermost, such that the thumb points along the $x$-axis in the positive direction, such that the thumb and index finger are at right-angles to each other.
Then the index finger is pointed along the $y$-axis in the positive direction.
Also known as
A left-handed orientation of a Cartesian plane is also referred to as:
Also see
Sources
- 1936: Richard Courant: Differential and Integral Calculus: Volume $\text { II }$ ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text I$: Preliminary Remarks on Analytical Geometry and Vector Analysis: $1$. Rectangular Co-ordinates and Vectors: $1$. Coordinate Axes
- 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): orientation
- 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): orientation