Jim Lambers

MAT 169
Fall Semester 2009-10
Lecture 33 Notes
These notes correspond to Section 9.3 in the text.

Polar Coordinates
Throughout this course, we have denoted a point in the plane by an ordered pair (, ), where the
numbers and denote the directed (i.e., signed positive or negative) distance between the point
and each of two perpendicular lines, the -axis and the -axis. The elements of this ordered pair
are called coordinates, and the coordinates used in this particular method of identifying points in
the plane are called Cartesian coordinates.
In this lecture, we introduce an alternative coordinate system known as the polar coordinate
system. In this system, a point in the plane is identied by an ordered pair (, ), where:
is the directed distance from a point designated as the pole, and
is the angle, in radians, that a ray between the pole and the point makes with a ray
designated as the polar axis.
The coordinates and are called polar coodinates.
The pole is the point (0, 0) in Cartesian coordinates, and has polar coordinates (0, ) for any
value of . The polar axis corresponds to the positive -axis. An angle is considered positive if
measured in the counterclockwise direction from the polar axis, and negative if measured in the
clockwise direction.
Using these conventions, the Cartesian coordinates of a point can easily be obtained from the
polar coordinates using the relations
= cos ,

= sin .

Since sin and cos are not one-to-one, and since is allowed to assume negative values, it follows
that each point in the plane has innitely many representations in polar coordinates.
Example Compute the Cartesian coordinates of the following points whose polar coordinates are
given.
1. (1, /4)
2. (1, 5/4)
3. (1, 9/4)
1

Solution Using the relations

= cos ,

= sin ,

we have:

2/2, = 1 sin(/4) = 22

2. = cos(5/4) = ( 2/2) = 2/2, = sin(/4) = ( 22) = 2/2

3. = 1 cos(9/4) = cos(/4) = 2/2, = 1 sin(9/4) = sin(/4) = 2/2

1. = 1 cos(/4) =

The polar coordinates of a point can be obtained from the Cartesian coordinates as follows:

= 2 + 2 , tan = .

It should be noted that because tan is not one-to-one on the interval 0 < 2, it is necessary
to consider the signs of and in order to make sure that the proper value of is used to represent
the point (, ). Otherwise, the point (, ) may lie in the wrong quadrant of the plane.
Example Compute the polar coordinates of the following points whose Cartesian coordinates are
given.

1. ( 3/2, 1/2)
2. (1, 1)
Solution Using the relations
2 = 2 + 2 ,

tan =

we have:
1.

2 = ( 3/2)2 + (1/2)2 = 3/4 + 1/4 = 1,

1
tan = .
3
It follows that = 1. Because the -coordinate of the point is negative, we should seek a
value of that lies in the interval (/2, 3/2). However, the range ofthe inverse tangent
function lies in the interval (/2, /2), and therefore = tan1 (1/ 3) = /6. Since
tangent has a period of , it follows that
tan( + ) = tan
for any ; in other words, its values repeat after every units. Since
1
tan(5/6) = tan(/6 + ) = tan(/6) = ,
3
2

it follows that = 5/6 satises the relation tan = /, and since 5/6 lies in the interval
(/2, 3/2), it is a correct value of for this point.
2.
2 = (1)2 + (1)2 = 2,

tan =

1
= 1.
1

It follows that = 2. Because the -coordinate of the point is negative, we should seek a
value of that lies in the interval (/2, 3/2). However, we have tan1 (1) = /4, which is
not in that interval. Since
tan(5/4) = tan(/4 + ) = tan(/4) = 1,
it follows that = 5/4 satises the relation tan = /, and since 5/4 lies in the interval
(/2, 3/2), it is a correct value of for this point.

A polar equation is an equation of the form = (). Such an equation denes a curve in the
plane by assigning a distance from the pole to each angle via the function (). For example,
the simple polar equation = , where is a constant, describes a circle of radius . The graph of
a polar equation is the set of all points in the plane that can be described using polar coordinates
that satisfy the equation. This denition is worded as such in order to take into account that each
point in the plane can have innitely many representations in polar coordinates.
Example Sketch the curve described by the polar equation
0 2.

= cos 2,

Solution This curve can be sketched by evaluating = cos 2 at several values of . For each such
value, the point (, ) = (cos 2, ) can be plotted by traversing units along the ray that makes
the angle with the polar axis (which is the -axis), if is positive; otherwise, use the ray that
makes the angle + with the polar axis. The curve = cos 2 is illustrated in Figure 1. The
circles indicate the points corresponding to = 0, /4, /2, 3/4, , 5/4, 3/2, 7/4, and 2.
Example Sketch the curve described by the polar equation
= sin ,

0 2.

Solution Figure 2 displays the curve, which can be plotted using the same approach as in the previous example. The circles indicate the points corresponding to = 0, /4, /2, 3/4, , 5/4, 3/2,
7/4, and 2. The circle is traced twice, once for 0 , and again for 2.

Figure 1: Curve described by the polar equation = cos 2, where 0 2.

We now determine the slope of a tangent line of a polar curve. If the curve can be described
by an equation of the form = () for some dierentiable function , then, by the Chain Rule,

= () ,

but since () = /, it follows that

/
=
.

/
Expressing and in polar coordinates and applying the Product Rule yields

sin + cos
cos sin

It can be shown that this result also holds for curves that cannot be described by an equation of
the form = ().
4

Figure 2: Curve described by the polar equation = sin , where 0 2.

We make the following observations about tangents to polar curves, based on the above expression for their slope:
Horizontal tangents occur when / = 0, provided that / = 0.
Vertical tangents occur when / = 0, provided that / = 0.
At the pole, when = 0, the slope of the tangent is given by

sin
cos

= tan

provided / = 0.
Example Given the curve dened by the polar equation = sin , where 0 , determine the
values of at which the tangent to the curve is either horizontal or vertical.

Solution As we learned in the previous example, this curve is a circle with center (0, 1/2) and
radius 1/2. The curve is displayed in Figure 2. Using the formula for the slope of the tangent, we
have, by double-angle formulas,

=
=
=
=
=
=

sin + cos

cos sin
(cos ) sin + (sin ) cos
(cos ) cos (sin ) sin
2 sin cos
cos2 sin2
sin 2
cos 2
tan 2.

Alternatively, we can use the relations

= cos ,

= sin

to compute / and / directly. In this case, we have

= sin cos ,

= sin2

or, from double-angle and half-angle formulas,

=

sin 2
,
2

and therefore

1 cos 2
2

= sin 2,
= cos 2,

which yields / = tan 2 as before.

The tangent is horizontal when / = 0 and / = 0. This occurs when = 0, /2, or .
The tangent is vertical when / = 0 and / = 0. This occurs when = /4 and = 3/4.

Summary
A point can be represented by polar coordinates (, ), where is the distance between the
point and the origin, or pole, and is the angle that a line segment from the pole to the point
makes with the positive -axis.
To convert from polar coordinates to Cartesian coordinates (, ), one can use the formulas
= cos and = sin .

To convert from Cartesian coordinates to polar coordinates, one can use = 2 + 2 , and
= tan1 (/) if < 0. If < 0, then = tan1 (/) + . If = 0, = /2 if > 0, and
/2 if < 0.
To graph a curve dened by a polar equation of the form = (), one can compute for
various values of , and use polar coordinates to plot the corresponding points on the curve.
To compute the slope of the tangent to a polar curve = (), one can dierentiate
= () cos and = () sin with respect to , and then use the relation / =
(/)/(/).