CHAPTER 2

POLAR
COORDINATES
 CONTENTS

2.1. Polar Coordinate System. Curves in

Polar Coordinates
2.2. Areas & Lengths in Polar Coordinates
2.3. Conic Sections in Polar Coordinates
 2.1. Polar Coordinate System
To describe the polar coordinate system we choose a
point 0 in the plane called the pole, and a (horizontal)
ray starting from 0 called the polar axis.
If P is any point in the plane, let r be the distance
from 0 to P and let  be the oriented angle between
the polar axis and the line 0P. Then r,  are polar
coordinates of P
P(r,)
We agree that (0, ) r
represents the pole for any
value of  
0 polar axis
We extend the meaning of polar coordinates (r, ) to the
case in which r is negative.
The two points (r, ) and (- r, ) are symmetric with
respect to 0.
Note that (- r, ) and ( r, +) represent the same point

(r,)
r


polar axis
0

(-r,)
Example. Plot the points whose polar coordinates
are given: (a) (1, 5/4) (b) (2, 3) (c) (2, -2/3)
(d) (-3, 3/4)

Solution. We have
3
5/4
(2, 3)

0 0
(1, 5/4)

3/4

0 0
-2/3
(2,-2/3) (-3, 3/4)
Note.
• In the Cartesian coordinate system every point has
only one representation, but in polar coordinate system
each point has many representations.
•For instance, the point (1, 5/4) could be written as
(1, -3/4) or (1, 13/4) or (-1, /4)
• In fact the point (r, ) is also represented by
•(r, +2n), and (-r, +(2n+1))
The connection between polar and Cartesian
coordinates is given by

x = r cos  y = r sin 
To find polar coordinates when Cartesian coordinates
are given we use
y
r x y
2 2 2
tan θ  P(r,)=P(x,y)
x
r
y


x
Example. Convert the point (2, /3) from polar to
Cartesian coordinates

Solution. Since r = 2, = /3 we have

π 1
x  r cos θ  2cos  2   1
3 2
π 3
y  r sin θ  2sin  2   3
3 2
Example. Represent the point with Cartesian
coordinates (1, -1) in terms of polar coordinates

Solution. If r is positive then

r  x 2  y 2  12  ( 1) 2  2
y
tan θ   1
x

Since (1, -1) lies in the fourth quadrant, we can

choose  = -/4 or  = 7/4. Thus some possible
answers are
π 7π
( 2 ,  ) or ( 2 , )
4 4
The Graph of a Polar Equation
Example. What curve is represented by the polar
equation r = 2?
Solution. The curve consists of points (r, ) with r=2:
this is the circle with center 0 and radius 2. In general
the equation r=a represents a circle with radius a

r=2


0
 Example. Sketch the polar curve  = 1

Solution. This curve consists of all point (r, ) such that

the polar angle  is 1 radian:

(3, 1)
This is the straight line
passing through 0 and making (2, 1)
=1
an angle 1 radian with respect (1, 1)
to the polar axis. 0 1

(-1, 1)

(-2, 1)
Example. (a) Sketch the polar curve r= 2cos
(b) Find a Cartesian equation for this curve
Solution. We draw a table of values for r as a function
of  and plot the corresponding points
 r=2cos   r = 2cos  1, π3  2 , π4  3 , π6 
0 2 2/3 -1
/6 3 3/4 - 2 0, π2  2,0 
/4 2 5/6 - 3
/3 1  -2
/2 0  1, 2π3   3 , 5π6 
 2 , 3π4 
Using these points we can sketch the curve
which seems to be a circle
Solution. (b) Since x = r cos we have
2x = 2r cos = r2 = x2 + y2 or
x2 + y2 – 2x = 0
Completing the square we obtain
(x – 1)2 + y2 = 1
Which is the equation of a circle with center (1,0) and
radius 1. P
r


0 (1,0) Q
Example. Sketch the curve r = 1 + sin 
Solution. To plot the points, we first sketch the graph of
r = 1 + sin  in Cartesian coordinates.
From this graph we have the table of variation for r

 0 /2  3/2 2
r 1 2 1 0 1

Using this table we can plot

the graph of the given curve
 0 /2  3/2 2
r 1 2 1 0 1
 Example. Sketch the curve r = cos 2
Solution. We have cos 2(- = cos 2 , and cos 2(–) =
cos 2 so that the graph is symmetric about the x-axis and
the y-axis.
Therefore we need to plot the graph only for 0    
We first sketch the graph of r = cos 2 in Cartesian
coordinates and draw the table of variation for r

 0 /4 
r 1 0 -1
  0 /4 

When  increases from 0 to /4, r decreases from 1 to 0:

we get the upper half of the curve in the first quadrant
When  increases from /4 to /2, r decreases from 0 to -1:
we get the lower half of the curve in the third quadrant

 = 3  =   = 

The graph is completed by
the symmetries about the
two axis. The curve is a =
=
four-leave rose
Tangents to Polar Curves

To find the tangent line to a polar curve r=f(), we

regard  as a parameter and write the parametric
equations of the curve
x = r cos= f() cosy = r sin= f() sin

Therefore
dy dr
sin θ  r cos θ
dy dθ dθ
 
dx dx dr cos θ  r sin θ
dθ dθ
To find the horizontal tangents we solve the
equation
dy/d= 0, dx/d 0
Similarly to find the vertical tangents we solve the
equation
dx/d= 0, dy/d 0
Note that the tangent lines at the pole correspond
to r = 0. Hence
dy dr
 tan θ if 0
dx dθ
Example. (a) Find the slope of the tangent line of
the cardioid r = 1 +sin at  = /3
Solution. dr
sin θ  r cos θ
dy dθ cos θ sin θ  (1  sin θ) cos θ
 
dx dr cos θ  r sin θ cos θ cos θ  (1  sin θ) sin θ
dθ
cos θ(1  2 sin θ) cos θ(1  2 sin θ)
 
1  2 sin θ - sin θ (1  sin θ)(1 - 2 sin θ)
2

With  = /3 we have

dy cos( π 3 )(1  2 sin ( π 3 ))

dx θ  π 3 (1  sin ( π 3 ))(1 - 2 sin ( π 3 ))
(1  3 )
1
 2
 1
(1  3 )(1  3 )
2
(b) Find the points of the cardioid where the tangent
line is horizontal or vertical
Solution. Observe that
dy π 3π 7π 11π
 cos θ (1  2 sin θ )  0 when θ  , , ,
dθ 2 2 6 6
dx 3π π 5π
 (1  sin θ)(1 - 2 sin θ)  0 when θ  , ,
dθ 2 6 6
Therefore the tangent line is horizontal at the points
π 1 7π 1 11π
( 2, ), ( , ), ( , )
2 2 6 2 6
And the tangent line is vertical at the points
3 π 3 5π
( , ), ( , )
2 6 2 6
When =3/2, both dy/d and dx/d are 0 so we use
l'Hospital's Rule to find the limit of dy/dx

dy 1  2 sin θ  cos θ 

lim -   lim -  lim - 
θ  ( 3π 2) dx θ  ( 3π 2) 1 - 2 sin θ  θ  ( 3π 2) 1  sin θ 
1 cos θ
  lim -
3 θ ( 3π 2) 1  sin θ
1  sin θ
  lim - 
3 θ ( 3π 2) cos θ
By symmetry dy
lim   
θ  ( 3π 2) dx

Hence the tangent line at the pole is vertical

Graphing Polar Curves with
Graphing Devices
MAPLE's command plot with the option
coords=polar allows us to graph a polar equation
r = f()
However if we want to graph together several
curves given by both polar equations and Cartesian
equations, we have to convert them to parametric
curves and use plot command to plot family of
parametric curves
or using command plots[display]
Example. We can graph the curve r = sin(8/5) with
the following MAPLE's command

>plot(sin(8*theta/
5),theta=0..10*Pi,color=black,
coords=polar);