#  >> K-12 >> AP Classes

How to Plot a Point in Mathematics Using Polar Coordinates

The polar coordinate system is one of the methods that mathematicians use to define a point in space. Polar coordinates focus on circles where the center of the circle is at the origin. A point defined by a polar coordinate is a certain distance away from the origin and at a particular angle around the circle.

Things You'll Need

  • Pencil
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Learn the notation of a polar coordinate. Polar coordinates look very much like rectangular coordinates, except the values in the parentheses mean different things. The value on the left is the length of the radius, or distance from the origin to the point. The value on the right is the degree of the angle created by the positive area of the x-axis and the radius.

    • 2

      Multiply the length of the radius by the cosine of the angle of the polar coordinate to find the coordinate's x-value.

    • 3

      Multiply the length of the radius by the sine of the angle of the polar coordinate to find the coordinate's y-value.

    • 4

      Plot the coordinate with the x and y values as if it were a rectangular coordinate.

    • 5

      Find the inverse tangent of the y-value divided by the x-value and apply the distance formula to double check that your calculations and plotting were correct. If the inverse tangent is equal to the given angle and the distance from your point to the origin is equal to the given radius, then you plotted the point correctly.

Learnify Hub © www.0685.com All Rights Reserved