“The Cartesian product of two sets A and B… is defined to be the set of all points (a, b) where a [is in set] A and b [is in set] B.” (“Cartesian Product,” WolframMathWorld). For example, if A = {1,2,3} and B = {4,5}, A x B = {(1,4), (1,5), (2,4), (2,5), (3,4), (3,5)}
Note, the Cartesian product is sometimes called “the product set, set direct product, or cross product”(ibid). That said, the cross product usually seems to apply to vectors. How exactly the two are related is unclear to me at the moment.
Cartesian coordinates seem to be related to the Cartesian product because Euclidean Spaces,* in which you can use Cartesian coordinates, are created when having the set of real numbers do the Cartesian product with itself (ibid).
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*What is the Gist of “Euclidean Space”?
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Disclaimer:
I am not a professional in this field, nor do I claim to know all of the jargon that is typically used in this field. I am not summarizing my sources; I simply read from a variety of websites until I feel like I understand enough about a topic to move on to what I actually wanted to learn. By definition, none of these posts address every aspect of a topic. If I am inaccurate in what I say or you know a better, simpler way to explain a concept, I would be happy to hear from you :).
