A point in Cartesian coordinates is sometimes referred to as a point vector. This terminology is apropos when a point is thought about as a unitary object to be processed using vector operations. In this regard, what distinguishes a point vector p from its grounding in Cartesian coordinates or is the preference for automated, algorithmic handling of the individual coordinates (i.e. tuples) by invoking vector operations such as vector add, vector difference, scalar multiply, normalize, vector dot product and vector cross product. The benefit is working at a higher conceptual level where numerical details can be safely entrusted to well-understood, lower-level functions. A point vector typically represents a location in space, or more generally, a location in an abstract quantitative data space. It can also be entertained as the displacement, or movement, going from the origin to Cartesian point p.
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