Transformations: Translations and Reflections

Notations for Translations

There are a few different notations for translations.  Although they each look a little different, they all mean the same thing.

  1. Description: 3 units to the right and 2 units down
  2. Mapping: (x, y) → (x + 3, y – 2)
    This is read “The x-coordinate becomes x plus 3 and the y-coordinate becomes y minus 2.”
  3. Symbol: T(3, -2)
    The 3 tells you to add three to the x coordinate and the -2 tells you to subtract 2 from the y-coordinate.
When we write the names of points, we will use a ‘prime’ to denote the transformed point.  So if A is the original point, A’ is the point after the transformation.  If P is the original point, P’ is the point after the transformation.