Question

Explaining How to Find an Image
Explain how you would find the coordinates of the image of (5, 2) if it was reflected over the x-axis and then that image was reflected over the y-axis. What would be the end result?

Answer 1

To reflect over the x-axis, keep the x-coordinate and negate the y-coordinate: (5, 2) → (5, −2).

Then reflecting that image over the y-axis negates the x-coordinate and keeps the y-coordinate: (5, −2) → (−5, −2).

So the final image is (−5, −2). (Equivalently, doing both reflections negates both coordinates, which is the same as a 180° rotation about the origin.)