Four Quadrants

When we include negative values, the x and y axes divide the space up into 4 pieces:

Quadrants I, II, III and IV

(They are numbered in a counter-clockwise direction)

• In Quadrant I both x and y are positive,
• in Quadrant II x is negative (y is still positive),
• in Quadrant III both x and y are negative, and
• in Quadrant IV x is positive again, and y is negative.

Like this:

Quadrant	X (horizontal)	Y (vertical)	Example
I	Positive	Positive	(3,2)
II	Negative	Positive
III	Negative	Negative	(−2,−1)
IV	Positive	Negative

Example: The point "C" (−2,−1) is 2 units along in the negative direction, and 1 unit down (i.e. negative direction).

Both x and y are negative, so that point is in "Quadrant III"