Definition
Orientation
Orientation describes how a figure is directed or arranged relative to a reference.
Continue from this idea into connected AXIO math.
What it means
Orientation answers “Which way is it facing or arranged?” Turning an arrow changes the way it points. In more advanced transformation language, rotating or sliding keeps the clockwise order of labelled points, while reflecting reverses that order.
Remember it
Same figure, different facing—or the same labels read in the opposite order.
Example
A triangle has its tip pointing up. After a half turn about its centre, the same triangle has its tip pointing down, so its facing orientation has changed.
Watch for
Moving a figure without turning it changes its position, not its facing orientation.
Common mix-up
A rotation changes which way a figure faces, but it does not reverse the clockwise order of its labelled points; a reflection does.
Exact meaning
Orientation describes a figure’s directional arrangement relative to a reference. It may mean which way the figure faces, or, for an ordered figure, whether its labelled points run clockwise or anticlockwise.