A square is translated 3 units to the right and 2 units up. How does its position change?

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Multiple Choice

A square is translated 3 units to the right and 2 units up. How does its position change?

Translations move every point of a figure the same distance in the same direction, keeping the size and orientation intact. Here, the square is shifted 3 units to the right and 2 units up, so every vertex goes +3 in the x-direction and +2 in the y-direction. The square doesn’t rotate, flip, or resize; it simply slides to a new position. That’s why the description is that it moves 3 units right and 2 units up with its orientation unchanged. Rotating would change orientation, moving in the opposite directions would be a different translation, and reflecting would flip the figure—none of which happens in a translation.

Translations move every point of a figure the same distance in the same direction, keeping the size and orientation intact. Here, the square is shifted 3 units to the right and 2 units up, so every vertex goes +3 in the x-direction and +2 in the y-direction. The square doesn’t rotate, flip, or resize; it simply slides to a new position. That’s why the description is that it moves 3 units right and 2 units up with its orientation unchanged. Rotating would change orientation, moving in the opposite directions would be a different translation, and reflecting would flip the figure—none of which happens in a translation.

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