X and Y Axis in Graph – Definition, Graph, Facts, Examples

An axis in mathematics is defined as a line that is used to make or mark measurements. The x and y-axis are two important lines of the coordinate plane. The x-axis is a horizontal number line and the y-axis is a vertical number line. These two axes intersect perpendicularly to form the coordinate plane. The x-axis is also called the abscissa and the y-axis is called the ordinate.

Any point on the coordinate plane can be located or represented using these two axes in the form of an ordered pair of the form (x,y). Here, x represents the location of the point with respect to the x-axis and y represents the location of the point with respect to the y-axis.
The origin is where the two axes intersect and is written as (0,0).

Plotting Points on X and Y Axis

Let us learn how to plot a point on the graph by using the X- and Y-axis.

For example: Let’s try to plot the point B(3,4) on the graph.

Here, the x-coordinate of B is 3. So we will start from the origin and move 3 units to the right on x-axis.

Now, the y-coordinate of B(3,4) is 4, so we will go 4 spaces up from this point.

And thus we have plotted our point B(3,4) on the graph using the axes.

Representing a Linear Equation on X- and Y-Axis

To understand how to represent a linear equation on the graph using the X- and Y-axis, 

let us consider a linear equation, y = x + 1. 

Now, let’s build a table to represent the corresponding values of y for different values of x and create their ordered pairs:

x	y	Ordered pair
0	1	(0,1)
1	2	(1,2)
2	3	(2,3)
3	4	(3,4)

The next step is to plot these ordered pairs on the coordinate plane graph.

As a final step, we will join these points to form a straight line and that will be the representation of the equation y = x + 1.

Solved Questions On X and Y Axis

Question 1: Which of the following points lie on the x-axis?

(0, 1) (4, 0) (7, 7) (−5, 0)       (−4, 4) (0, −5) (8, 0) (6, 0)

Answer: Since the coordinates lying on x-axis have their y coordinate zero (0), the following points will lie on x-axis:

(4, 0) (−5, 0) (8, 0) (6, 0)

Question 2: Two different points are to be plotted on a graph. If the given points are (3,2) and (2,3), then plot these two points on the X- and Y-axis. Also, find out the point where the straight line going through these points meets the x-axis.

Answer: For (3,2), as we can see, the x-coordinate point is 3, and the y-coordinate point is 2.

Similarly we can plot the point (2,3).

Now, we can join both points with a straight line when we have plotted both points. After extending the straight line, we see that this line intersects the x-axis at point (5,0).

Question 3: For a linear equation y = 2x + 6, find the point where the straight line meets y-axis on the graph.

Answer: On y-axis, the x-coordinate of the point is 0. Therefore, we can find the intersection point of y-axis and y = 2x + 6 by simply putting the value of x as 0 and finding the value of y. y = 2(0)+6 = 0 + 6 = 6.

So the straight line of the equation y = 2x + 6 meets the y-axis at (0,6).

Practice Problems On X and Y Axis

Frequently Asked Questions On X and Y Axis