What is polar coordinates

Question

What is polar coordinates

Answer 1

Its the same thing as the Cartesian coordinate system (X and Y coordinate system) in that any point on a Polar graph looks the same as it would on a Cartesian graph but there are key differences on how you actually find the point. Instead of a point being (x,y) like it is on a regular graph on a polar graph it is (r,Theta): r being the distance the point is from the origin (0,0) and Theta being the angle from the positive x-axis. A graph in the Cartesian format looks like y=m*x+b or some such while the Polar equivalent is usually r=cos(theta) or some such.

You can convert from Cartesian to polar and vice versa by keeping in mind that: x=r*cos(Theta), y=r*sin(Theta), slope y/x=tan(Theta), and r^2=y^2+x^2

I suggest messing around with a graphing calculator with Polar graphing capabilities to get a real feel for it.

Answer 2

It is a way of mapping two points in relationship to distance and angle from a fixed point.