Definition:Cartesian Coordinate System/Z Coordinate
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Definition
Consider a Cartesian coordinate system $C$ with a $z$-axis.
Let a point $Q$ be positioned in $C$.
Let $z$ be the length of the line segment from the origin $O$ to the foot of the perpendicular from $Q$ to the $z$-axis.
Then $z$ is known as the $z$ coordinate.
If $Q$ is in the positive direction along the real number line that is the $z$-axis, then $z$ is positive.
If $Q$ is in the negative direction along the real number line that is the $z$-axis, then $z$ is negative.
Also known as
Some sources hyphenate: $z$-coordinate.
Also see
Sources
- 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $z$-coordinate
- 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $z$-coordinate