Background Tutorials

• Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines. Identify these in two-dimensional figures.

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    What is a Ray?

    Rays are a very useful part of math. Two rays can create an angle. Multiple angles can create a polygon. Add another dimension, and you get three-dimensional solids! This tutorial introduces you to rays and shows you how to name them.

• Use a pair of perpendicular number lines, called axes, to define a coordinate system, with the intersection of the lines (the origin) arranged to coincide with the 0 on each line and a given point in the plane located by using an ordered pair of numbers, called its coordinates. Understand that the first number indicates how far to travel from the origin in the direction of one axis, and the second number indicates how far to travel in the direction of the second axis, with the convention that the names of the two axes and the coordinates correspond (e.g., x-axis and x-coordinate, y-axis and y-coordinate).

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    What is the Origin?

    The coordinate plane has two axes: the horizontal and vertical axes. These two axes intersect one another at a point called the origin. Learn about the ordered pair that indicates the origin and its location in the coordinate plane by watching this tutorial!

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    What is the Coordinate Plane?

    You can't graph a function or plot ordered pairs without a coordinate plane! Learn about the coordinate plane by watching this tutorial.

• Explain how the unit circle in the coordinate plane enables the extension of trigonometric functions to all real numbers, interpreted as radian measures of angles traversed counterclockwise around the unit circle.

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    What is an Angle in Standard Position?

    Understanding how angles are made in the coordinate plane is a big step towards understanding trigonometry. This tutorial shows you how an angle can be made in the coordinate plane!