How to Make a Coordinate System Using Microsoft Word

1. Click the 'Table' button on the 'Insert' menu to make Word display a grid of squares. Click the mouse in the square located seven squares to the right and seven squares below the top left square.
2. Click the small icon above and to the left of the top left corner of the table to select the table. Click the small down arrow in the bottom right corner of the 'Cell size' panel of the 'Layout' tab.
3. Click the 'Row' tab, then type '1',' without the outer quotes, in the 'Height' text box. Click the item that reads 'Exactly' from the tab's only drop-down list. These actions make each table row 1 inch high.
4. Click the 'Column' tab, then type '1',' without the outer quotes, in the 'Width' text box. The previous step and this step tell Word to make each cell of the table a square. This action creates a grid of the entire table, which is the basis of the coordinate system.
5. Click 'OK' to close the dialog box. Click in a table cell that's located at the approximate center of the table. Type a '0' in this cell to indicate that the vertical line to the left of the number is the vertical line at the center of the coordinate system. This means the vertical line is the 'Y' axis.
6. Type a '1' in the cell to the right of the cell containing the '0.' Number the remaining cells in the current row with successively higher integers that increase by one. These numbers display the horizontal units of the coordinate system.
7. Click in the cell that's one cell above and one cell to the left of the '0' cell. Type a '1' in this cell. Number the remaining cells in this column with successively higher integers that increase by one as you move higher and higher in the column. These numbers display the vertical units of the coordinate system.
8. Click above the column into which you just entered the increasing integers, to select the column. Click the 'Layout' tab, then click the top right alignment icon in the group of nine such icons in the 'Alignment' group. This action makes the numbers in the column align to the top, right side of the cell, which makes the 'Y' axis easier to read.
9. Print out the table, then plot a sample point on the coordinate system as follows: Place your finger on the grid intersection above and to the left of the lower '2.' Place another finger on the grid intersection above and to the right of the upper '1.' Move the first finger upward along its vertical line and move your second figure right along its horizontal line until your fingers meet. The grid intersection at which your fingers have met is '(2,1),' which means two units to the right of the 0 along the horizontal or 'X' axis, and one unit above the 0 along the vertical or 'Y' axis.