Question

The distance of the point P(2, 3) from the x-axis is (a) 2 b) 3 (c) 1 (d) 5 ​

Answer 1

Answer: 3

The distance from the x-axis to any point is called the y coordinate

The distance from the y-axis to any point is called the x coordinate

The standard form we use to write coordinates is (x, y)

So here x = 2 and y = 3

(2, 3)

From the above, we know that the distance from the x-axis is y coordinate. So the y co-ordinate here is 3.

Therefore the answer is 3

Common Confusion

People usually wonder whether to write co-ordinate or coordinate. Either one of them is correct but according to the modern dictionary, there is no hyphen. This is because hyphens tend to drop out when we use the word a lot. We usually use hyphens to terminate mispronunciations, For example, co-worker, if we write it as coworker then people might read it as cow orker.