Question

What is the horizontal distance from (-3, 1) to y-axis?

Answer 1

Horizontal distance to the Y-axis from `(-3,1)` is
`color(green)(-3)` if distances are assumed to be measured to the right; or
`color(green)(3)` if we are only looking at absolute distances.

Explanation:

For a coordinate in the form `(color(red)(x),color(blue)(y))`
`color(white)("XXX")color(red)(x)` is the (horizontal) distance to the right of the Y-axis;
`color(white)("XXX")color(blue)(y)` is the (vertical) distance above the X-axis
[This is a basic definition].