An ordered pair is two numbers for which the order in which they are given is important.

Ordered pair usually refers to a set of two numbers used to locate a point in a coordinate plane. When an ordered pair refers to the location of a point in the coordinate plane, they are called the coordinates of the point.

The order is important because a point named by the ordered pair ( 5, 3 ) is not at the same location as the point named by the ordered pair ( 3, 5 ).