Polar Co-ordinates
Polar Co-ordinates
The polar co-ordinate is a two-dimensional system in which each point on a plane is determined by a reference point distance and a reference direction angle. Apart from Cartesian co-ordinates, another way of locating a point on a graph uses the distance (r) from the origin and an angle (θ) measured anticlockwise from x-axis to the line joined to the origin point. These co-ordinates (r, θ) are called as polar co-ordinates.
Conversions
To convert between polar and rectangular co-ordinates, make a right triangle to the point (x,y), as shown below. The conversion formulae are derived based on this picture.
Polar co-ordinates to rectangular co-ordinates
The formula to convert polar to rectangular co-ordinates.
x = r cosθ
y = r sinθ
Example
Convert the polar co-ordinates (5,30o) to rectangular co-ordinates.
(x,y) = (5 cos30o, 5 sin30o)
= (5 x 0.87), (5 x 0.5)
= (4.3301, 2.5)
Answer = (4.3301, 2.5)
Rectangular co-ordinates to polar co-ordinates
The formula to convert rectangular to polar co-ordinates.
Example
Convert the rectangular co-ordinates (4,2) to polar co-ordinates.
r = √(42 + 22)
= √20
= 4.472
tanθ = 2/4
= 0.5
θ = 26.57o (from tangent table)
Answer = (4.472, 26.57o)