Why is the fourth quadrant positive,negative?

1 Answer
Aug 8, 2015

In the fourth quadrant the value of x is always positive and the value of y is always negative;
so coordinates (x,y) in quadrant 4 are always ("positive", "negative")

Explanation:

Using standard notation:
enter image source here

All points to the right of the Y-axis have values for x which are positive.

All points below the X-axis have values of y which are negative.

Quadrant 4 is the area to the right of the Y-axis and below the X-axis.

Therefore all points in quadrant 4 have values of x which are positive and values of y that are negative.