Example of Cartesian coordinate Graph:

Example:  The temperature of water flowing in a high pressure line was measured at regular intervals.  Plot the subsequent recorded data on a Cartesian coordinate graph.

Time (min)        Temperature (°F)

0                         400°

15                       420°

30                       440°

45                       460°

60                       480°

75                       497°

90                       497°

105                     497°

120                     497°

The first step is to label the x-axis and the y-axis.  Let the y-axis be temperature in °F and x-axis is time in minutes.

The further step is to establish the units of measurement along each axis.  The x-axis has range from 0 to 120, the y-axis from 400 to 500.

The points are then plotted one through one.  Another figure shows the resulting Cartesian coordinate graph.

Figure: Cartesian coordinate Graph of Temperature vs. Time