quadrant

(noun)

One of the four quarters of the Cartesian plane bounded by the $x$-axis and $y$-axis.

Related Terms

Examples of quadrant in the following topics:

  • Special Angles

    • In quadrant II, “Smart,” only sine is positive.
    • Reference angles in quadrant I are used to identify which value any angle in quadrants II, III, or IV will take.
    • For any given angle in the first quadrant, there is an angle in the second quadrant with the same sine value.
    • For any angle in quadrants II, III, or IV, there is a reference angle in quadrant I.
    • For any angle in quadrants II, III, or IV, there is a reference angle in quadrant I.

  • The Cartesian System

    • The Cartesian coordinate system is broken into four quadrants by the two axes.
    • Some basic rules about these quadrants can be helpful for quickly plotting points:
    • Quadrant II: Points have negative $x$ and positive $y$ coordinates, $(-x,y)$.
    • Quadrant IV: Points have positive $x$ and negative $y$ coordinates, $(x,-y)$.
    • The four quadrants of theCartesian coordinate system.

  • Defining Trigonometric Functions on the Unit Circle

    • The x- and y-axes divide the coordinate plane (and the unit circle, since it is centered at the origin) into four quarters called quadrants.
    • We label these quadrants to mimic the direction a positive angle would sweep.
    • The four quadrants are labeled I, II, III, and IV.

  • Sine and Cosine as Functions

    • Notice how the sine values are positive between $0$ and $\pi$, which correspond to the values of the sine function in quadrants I and II on the unit circle, and the sine values are negative between $\pi$ and $2\pi$, which correspond to the values of the sine function in quadrants III and IV on the unit circle.

  • Double and Half Angle Formulae

    • Recall that different signs are applied to trigonometric functions that fall in each of the four quadrants (according to the mnemonic rule "A Smart Trig Class").
    • Notice that we used only the positive root because $15^{\circ}$$$ falls in the first quadrant and $\sin(15^{\circ})$ is therefore positive.

  • Pythagorean Identities

    • If we know the quadrant where the angle is, we can easily choose the correct solution.