What are the great examples that in interesting fashion show usefulness of Cartesian coordinates on euclidean plane?
It might be some interesting problem which has a simple solution in Cartesian coordinates or something like that, I of course appreciate all examples, but prefer examples from elementary geometry.
To me one of the most amazing applications of geometry is the Gaussian integral: $$I = \int_{-\infty}^\infty \mathrm e^{-x^2} \mathrm d x.$$
Instead if looking at $I$, we look at $I^2$: $$I^2= \left(\int_{-\infty}^\infty \mathrm e^{-x^2} \mathrm d x\right)^2 =\int_{-\infty}^\infty \mathrm e^{-x^2} \mathrm d x\int_{-\infty}^\infty \mathrm e^{-y^2} \mathrm d y .$$ hence, $$I^2= \int_{-\infty}^\infty\int_{-\infty}^\infty \mathrm e^{-x^2 -y^2} \mathrm d x \mathrm d y .$$ Now, we see $(x,y)$ as a point in a Cartesian coordinate space; using a polar representation allows us to solve the integral easily and find that $I^2=\pi$, so $I=\sqrt{\pi}$.
To me, it's a double whammy of abstractions: intractable integral $\to$ Cartesian plane $\to$ polar representation $\to$ easy solution. Hard to beat :)