Abscissa: The ordinate and abscissa together define

The ordinate and abscissa together define the precise location of a point in a Cartesian coordinate system. The ordinate focuses on vertical measurement, whereas the abscissa emphasizes horizontal measurement. The curve as a whole becomes, first slightly convex to the abscissa, then straight and ascending, and lastly concave. The ordinate in these curves represents the E.M. variation, and the abscissa the time. Learn what abscissa means in mathematics and how to identify it in a pair of coordinates. See examples, diagrams and related terms such as ordinate and ordered pair. The abscissa is the distance between a point and the Y-axis coordinate with X-axis, whereas ordinate is the distance between a point and the Y-axis.