P OL A R C O OR D I N AT E

S Y S TE M
POLAR COORDINATE SYSTEM

• THE POLAR COORDINATE SYSTEM IS A TWO-DIMENSIONAL

COORDINATE SYSTEM WHERE EACH POINT IN THE PLANE IS
DETERMINED BY A DISTANCE FROM A REFERENCE POINT (USUALLY
THE ORIGIN) AND AN ANGLE FROM A REFERENCE DIRECTION
(USUALLY THE POSITIVE X-AXIS). THE DISTANCE IS OFTEN
DENOTED AS "R," AND THE ANGLE IS DENOTED AS "Θ" (THETA).
• IN THIS SYSTEM WE FIX A POINT O, CALLED THE POLE, AND THE RAY, CALLED
THE POLAR AXIS THAT WE ASSUME TO POINT TO THE RIGHT OF O.

• LETP BE ANY POINT ON THE PLANE DIFFERENT FROM O AND LET = |OP| WHERE
THE DISTANCE BETWEEN O AND P.

P=

r
𝜃
P olar axis
O
FROM POLAR TO RECTANGULAR AND VICE VERSA
• CONVERTING BETWEEN POLAR COORDINATES AND CARTESIAN
COORDINATES (X, Y) INVOLVES THE FOLLOWING EQUATIONS:

• AND THE REVERSE TRANSFORMATION IS GIVEN BY:

= |

• THIS COORDINATE SYSTEM IS PARTICULARLY USEFUL FOR

REPRESENTING POINTS IN A CIRCULAR OR ROTATIONAL CONTEXT,
SUCH AS IN PHYSICS OR ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS INVOLVING
CIRCULAR MOTION.
EXAMPLE 1:
:
EXAMPLE:
• Convert each cartesian coordinate to polar coordinates
1. (4,4) 2.
Solution: Solution:
ASSIGNMENT:

DIRECTIONS: BY THREE IN A GROUP. IN ONE WHOLE SHEET OF PAPER. CONVERT

THE FOLLOWING COORDINATES. SHOW YOUR SOLUTION.
1. Convert each polar coordinates to Cartesian 2. Convert each Cartesian coordinates to Polar
coordinates coordinates .
BASIC POLAR GRAPHS
ACTIVITY:
PLOT THE FOLLOWING
POINTS IN ONE POLAR
PLANE:
A. (3, A ,I
B. (1, F ,H
G
C. (2, B
E
D. (4, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

E. (3, C

F. (4, -
G. (2.5, D

H. (4,
I. (3,-
EXAMPLE :
1: 2:
3: 4:
 Draw a sketch of the graph of the
polar equation :

0 2
x