Points plotted on a coordinate plane.

Lines plotted on a coordinate plane.

If you can plot points on a coordinate plane, you can also plot lines. In fact, you can plot all sorts of points, lines, planes and graphs on a coordinate plane. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, and focus on the idea of plotting straight lines on the coordinate plane.

If you can plot two points, you can plot a straight line.

Simply plot the two points and draw a straight line between them.

You can't define a line from just one point. Think about it. If you have just one point on the coordinate plane, you can plot an endless number of different lines through it — up, down, sideways, at all sorts of angle .... But!! But if you plot two points, you can define one particular line. No others.

Two lines. Notice how each one is drawn between two points.

 Example

Problem: Plot a straight line between points P₁ = (4, 5) and P₂ = (1, 1).

Step 1: Plot the first point.

Step 2: Plot the second point.

Step 2: Draw a straight line between the two points.

More Examples

Exercises