1

POLAR COORDINATES
Polar coordinate system: a pole (fixed point) and a polar axis (directed ray with endpoint at pole).

rectangular coordinates ⇒ polar coordinates polar coordinates ⇒ rectangular coordinates

𝑦
𝑟 = √𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 , 𝜃 = 𝑎𝑟𝑐 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝑥 = 𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 𝑦 = 𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃
𝑥

The angle, θ, is measured from the polar axis to a line that passes through the point and the pole.
If the angle is measured in a counterclockwise direction, the angle is positive.
If the angle is measured in a clockwise direction, the angle is negative.
The directed distance, r, is measured from the pole to point P.
If point P is on the terminal side of angle θ, then the value of r is positive.
If point P is on the opposite side of the pole, then the value of r is negative.

The location of a point can be named using many different pairs of polar coordinates.
← three different sets of polar coordinates for the point P (5, 60°).
The distance r and the angle 𝜃 are both directed--meaning that they represent the
distance and angle in a given direction. It is possible, therefore to have negative values for
both r and 𝜃. However, we typically avoid points with negative r , since they could just as
easily be specified by adding  to 𝜃 .

Problem : P (x, y) = (1, 3). Express it in polar coordinates (r, θ) two different ways such that 0≤ θ < 2
(r, θ) = (2, /3), (- 2, 4/3) .

Problem : P(x, y) = (-4, 0). Express it in polar coordinates (r, θ) two different ways such that 0≤ θ < 2.
(r, θ) = (4, ),(- 4, 0) .

Problem : P (x, y) = (-7, -7), express it in polar coordinates (r, θ) two different ways such that 0≤ θ < 2.
(r, θ) = (98, 5/4),(- 98, /4) .
Problem : Given a point in polar coordinates (r, θ) = (3, /4), express it in rectangular coordinates (x, y) .
(x, y) = (3√2/2, 3√2/2) .

Problem : How many different ways can a point be expressed in polar coordinates such that r > 0 ?
An infinite number. (r, θ) = (r, θ +2n) , where n is an integer.

Problem : Transform the equation x2 + y2 + 5x = 0 to polar coordinate form.

x2 + y2 + 5x = 0 r2 + 5(r cos θ) = 0
r ( r + 5 cos θ) = 0 The equation r = 0 is the pole. Thus, keep only the other equation: r + 5 cos θ = 0
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Problem : Transform the equation r = 4sin θ to Cartesian coordinate form. What is the graph? Describe it fully!!!

𝑦
√𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 = 4
√𝑥 2 +𝑦 2

𝑥 2 + 𝑦2 = 4 𝑦 𝑥 2 + (𝑦 − 2)2 = 22 circle: r = 2 C(0, 2)

Problem : What is the maximum value of | r| for the following polar equations:
a) r = cos(2 θ) ;
b) r = 3 + sin(θ) ;
c) r = 2 cos(θ) - 1 .
a) The maximum value of | r| in r = cos(2 θ) occurs when θ = n/2 where n is an integer and | r| = 1 .
b) The maximum value of | r| in r = 3 + sin(θ) occurs when θ = /2+2n where n is an integer and | r| = 4 .
c) The maximum value of | r| in r = 2 cos(θ) - 1 occurs when θ = (2n + 1) where n is an integer and | r| = 3 .

Problem : Find the intercepts and zeros of the following polar equations: a) r = cos(θ) + 1 ; b) r = 4 sin(θ) .

a) Polar axis intercepts: (r, θ) = (2, 2n),(0, (2n + 1)) , where n is an integer.
Line θ = /2 intercepts: (r, θ) = (1, /2 + n) , where n is an integer. r = cos(θ) + 1 = 0 for θ = (2n + 1) ,
where n is an integer.

b) Polar axis intercepts: (r, θ) = (0, n) where n is an integer. Line θ = /2 intercepts: (r, θ) = (4, /2 +2n)
where n is an integer.
r = 4 sin(θ) = 0 for θ = n, where n is an integer.

Problem : Sketch

Spiral of Archimedes: r = θ, θ ≥ 0

The curve is a nonending spiral.

Here it is shown in detail from θ = 0 to θ = 2π

Problem : Sketch Lima¸cons (Snail): 𝑟 = 1 − cos 𝜃

θ 0 π/4 π/3 π/2 2 π/3 3 π/4 π 5 π/4 4 π/3 3 π/2 5 π/3 7 π/4 2π
r –1 –0.41 0 1 2 2.41 3 2.41 2 1 0 –0.41 –1
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Problem : Sketch Lima¸cons (Snail): 𝑟 = 𝑎 + 𝑏 cos 𝜃

The general shape of the curve depends on the relative magnitudes of |a| and |b|.

3 1
𝑟 = 3 + cos 𝜃 𝑟= + cos 𝜃 𝑟 = 1 + cos 𝜃 𝑟= + cos 𝜃
2 2
convex limacon limacon with a dimple carotid limacon with an inner loop

Problem : Sketch Cardioids (Heart-Shaped): r = 1 ± cosθ , r = 1 ± sinθ

𝑟 = 1 + cos 𝜃 𝑟 = 1 + sin 𝜃 𝑟 = 1 − cos 𝜃 𝑟 = 1 − sin 𝜃

Flowers
Problem : Sketch Petal Curve: r = cos 2 θ

Problem : Sketch Petal Curves: r = a cos n θ, r = a sin n θ

• If n is odd, there are n petals.

• If n is even, there are 2n petals.

r = sin 3θ r = cos 4 θ
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First and second derivative r = r():

𝑑 𝑑𝑦
𝑑2 𝑦 𝑑 𝑑𝑦 [ ]
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑟 = [ ] =
𝑥 = 𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 ⟹ = 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 − 𝑟 sin 𝜃 𝑑𝑥 2 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑟 𝑑𝑟
𝑦 = 𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 ⟹ = 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃 + 𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃
𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝜃 𝒅𝟐 𝒚 𝑑 1 𝑑 𝑑𝜃 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃 + 𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃
𝑑𝑦
= ( )= ( )
𝒅𝟐 𝒙 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝑟
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 − 𝑟 sin 𝜃
𝒅𝒚 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃 + 𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝜃
𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝜃
= =
𝒅𝒙 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑟 and now good luck 
𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 − 𝑟 sin 𝜃
𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝜃
Note that rather than trying to remember
this formula it would probably be easier to
remember how we derived it .

𝑻𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝜽 = 𝜽𝟎 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝒓 = 𝒓(𝜽): 𝑦 = 𝑚 (𝑥 – 𝑥0 ) + 𝑦0

𝑥0 = 𝑟0 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃0 𝑑𝑦
𝑟0 = 𝑟(𝜃0 ) ⟹ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚= 𝑎𝑡 𝑟0 = 𝑟(𝜃0 )
𝑦0 = 𝑟0 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃0 𝑑𝑥
1
𝑵𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆: 𝑦 = − (𝑥 – 𝑥0 ) + 𝑦0
𝑚

𝑑𝑦
𝑯𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒛𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆: 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑧𝑒𝑟𝑜 ⟹ =0
𝑑𝑥

𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑥
=0 ⟹ = 0 ⟹ 𝜃0 (𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘 | ≠ 0) ⟹ 𝑟0 = 𝑟(𝜃0 ) ⟹ 𝑦0 = 𝑟0 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃0 𝑒𝑞: 𝑦 = 𝑦0
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝑡 𝜃0

𝑑𝑦
𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆: 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑: =∞
𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑦
=∞ ⟹ = 0 ⟹ 𝜃0 (𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘 | ≠ 0) ⟹ 𝑟0 = 𝑟(𝜃0 ) ⟹ 𝑥0 = 𝑟0 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃0 𝑒𝑞: 𝑥 = 𝑥0
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝑡 𝜃0

𝑑2𝑦
𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 (𝒙𝟏 , 𝒚𝟏 ) 𝑜𝑟 𝒕𝟏 𝑜𝑟 𝜽𝟏 ∶ 𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡.
𝑑𝑥 2
𝑑2𝑦 𝑑2 𝑦
𝐼𝑓 < 0 → 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛. 𝐼𝑓 > 0 → 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑢𝑝
𝑑𝑥 2 𝑑𝑥 2
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Area enclosed by a polar curve r = r():

For a very small 𝜃 (𝑑𝜃), the curve could be approximated by a straight line
and the area could be found using the triangle formula:

1 1
𝑑𝐴 = (𝑟 𝑑𝜃)𝑟 = 𝑟 2 𝑑𝜃
2 2

1 ≤  ≤ 2

𝜃2
1 𝜃2 2
𝐴 = ∫ 𝑑𝐴 = ∫ 𝑟 𝑑𝜃
𝜃1 2 𝜃1

Example: Find the area enclosed by: 𝑟 = 2(1 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃)

example: Find the area of the inner loop of r = 2 + 4 cos θ

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Length of a Polar Curve:

𝑏 𝑏 𝜃2
𝑑𝑥 2 𝑑𝑦 2
𝑆 = ∫ 𝑑𝑠 = ∫ √(𝑑𝑥)2 + (𝑑𝑦)2 = ∫ √ ( ) + ( ) 𝑑𝜃
𝑎 𝑎 𝜃1 𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝜃

𝜃1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝜃2 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏

𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑟 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑟
𝑥 = 𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 ⟹ = 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 − 𝑟 sin 𝜃 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦 = 𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 ⟹ = 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃 + 𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃
𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝜃

𝑑𝑥 2 𝑑𝑦 2 𝑑𝑟 2 𝑑𝑟 𝑑𝑟 2 𝑑𝑟 𝑑𝑟 2
( ) + ( ) = ( ) 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜃 − 2𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 + 𝑟 2 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝜃 + ( ) 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝜃 + 2𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 + 𝑟 2 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜃 = ( ) + 𝑟 2
𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝜃

𝑏 𝑏 𝜃2
𝑑𝑟 2
𝑆 = ∫ 𝑑𝑠 = ∫ √(𝑑𝑥)2 + (𝑑𝑦)2 = ∫ √ 𝑟 2 + ( ) 𝑑𝜃
𝑎 𝑎 𝜃1 𝑑𝜃
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EXAMPLE: limaçon: r = 0.5 + cos θ table:

1. Find the area of the inner circle.  r
2. Find all vertical and horizontal tangents. 0 1.5
3. Find the points with two tangent lines. Find tangents. /6 1.37
/3 1
2/3 0
1 4𝜋/3 2 1 4𝜋/3
𝐴= ∫ 𝑟 𝑑𝜃 = ∫ (0.5 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃)2 𝑑𝜃 5/6 -
2 2𝜋/3 2 2𝜋/3 0.367
 -0.5
1 4𝜋/3 7/6 -
= ∫ (0.25 + cos 𝜃 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜃) 𝑑𝜃
2 2𝜋/3 0.367
4/3 0
1 4𝜋/3 5/3 1
= ∫ (0.25 + cos 𝜃 + 0.5 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2𝜃 + 0.5) 𝑑𝜃
2 2𝜋/3 11/6 1.37
2 1.5
= 0.375 (4/3 − 2/3) + 0.5(𝑠𝑖𝑛 4/3 – 𝑠𝑖𝑛 2/3) + 0.125 (𝑠𝑖𝑛 8/3 – 𝑠𝑖𝑛 4/3)

= 0.25  − 0.5 3 + 0.125 3 𝑨 = 𝟎. 𝟐𝟓  − 𝟎. 𝟑𝟕𝟓 √𝟑

𝑑𝑦
𝑑𝑦
2. = 𝑑𝜃
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝜃
𝑑𝑥
𝑥 = 𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑠 = 0.5 𝑐𝑜𝑠 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2  = – 0.5 𝑠𝑖𝑛 – 2 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑛
𝑑𝜃
𝑑𝑦
𝑦 = 𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑛 = 0.5 𝑠𝑖𝑛 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑛 = 0.5 𝑐𝑜𝑠 – 𝑠𝑖𝑛2  + 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜃 = 0.5 𝑐𝑜𝑠 + 2𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜃 – 1
𝑑𝜃

𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑥
ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠:
𝑑𝑥
=0 → 𝑑𝜃
=0 & 𝑑𝜃
≠0

2cos2 + 0.5 cos – 1 = 0 cos  = (– 0.5 ± √8.25)/4

cos = 0.593 1 = 0.936 rad 2 = 5.347 rad

cos = – 0.843 3 = 2.572 rad 4 = 3.710 rad

each equation is: y = r sin

𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑦
𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠: =∞ → =0 & ≠0
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝜃

𝑠𝑖𝑛 + 4 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑛 = 0 𝑠𝑖𝑛(1 + 4 𝑐𝑜𝑠) = 0

sin  = 0 =0 tangent: x = 1.5 the same for cos  = - ¼

3. r = 0.5 + cos θ will have two tangents at point r = 0  = 2/3 and  = 4/3
𝑑𝑦
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝜃
0.5 cos + 2cos2 – 1
slope = . 𝑑𝑥 = 𝑑𝑥 = calculate that for both  = 2/3 and  = 4/3
𝑑𝜃
– 0.5 sin – 2 cos sin

first tangent line at r=0  = 2/3 (y1 = 0, x1 = 0) y = y’ (x – x1) + y1

second tangent line at r=0  = 4/3 (y1 = 0, x1 = 0) y = y’ (x – x1) + y1