How did x and y become the primary letters used as variables in math?

Question

For cartesian plans, for functions, why are x and y the letters we use as variables?

In: 18

Answer 1

That’s an interesting question. It seems like it goes back to Renees Descartes. Among other things, Renees Descartes was a mathematician who did a lot of work with algebra and geometry. He invented the concept of cartesian coordinates, where you plot things on an X and Y axis and he came up the notation for powers where the number goes slightly above the other number: x^2 . Anyway, he preferred using x, y and z for unknown values when he did algebra, and mathematicians just stuck with that for hundreds of years.