Quadrant (plane geometry)

The four quadrants of a Cartesian coordinate system.

The axes of a two-dimensional Cartesian system divide the plane into four infinite regions, called quadrants, each bounded by two half-axes.

These are often numbered from 1st to 4th and denoted by Roman numerals: I (where the signs of the two coordinates are (+,+)), II (−,+), III (−,−), and IV (+,−). When the axes are drawn according to the mathematical custom, the numbering goes counter-clockwise starting from the upper right ("northeast") quadrant.

Signs of trigonometric functions in each quadrant

See also

• Orthant
• Octant (solid geometry)

External links

• Weisstein, Eric W., "Quadrant", MathWorld.
• Quadrant at PlanetMath.org.