Asked by Josh
How can I convert polar coordinates to rectangular coordinates?
Answers
Answered by
Reiny
suppose you have a point (r,Ø)
Join the point to the origin and complete the right-angled triangle.
Call the point (r,Ø) as (x,y) in the rectangular system.
then
r^2 = x^2 + y^2
and tanØ = y/x
also :
x/r = cosØ ---> x = rcosØ
y/r=sinØ ---> y = rsinØ
Depending on the equation, you sometimes have to be very creative in converting from one system to the other.
Do you have an example?
Join the point to the origin and complete the right-angled triangle.
Call the point (r,Ø) as (x,y) in the rectangular system.
then
r^2 = x^2 + y^2
and tanØ = y/x
also :
x/r = cosØ ---> x = rcosØ
y/r=sinØ ---> y = rsinØ
Depending on the equation, you sometimes have to be very creative in converting from one system to the other.
Do you have an example?