How do polar and rectangular vectors differ?

Question

How do polar and rectangular vectors differ?

Answer 1

With polar vectors, you fix one spot, then measure a distance and an angle to find another specific location.  This is like reading a compass when you're out hiking.

With rectangular vectors, you measure a distance along the X-axis, and then another distance along the Y-axis to get to another specific location.  This is like following a street map in a city.

Both can be used to identify where a specific location is in relation to a given starting point.