Question

14. Find the distance between (7,217pi/180 ) and (5,-23pi/36 ) on the polar plane.

Answer 1

Answer: the distance is  3.49 units

Step-by-step explanation:

There are some ways to find the exact distance, i will calculate the distance in rectangular coordinates.

When we have a point (R, θ) in polar coordinates, we can transform it into rectangular coordinates as:

x = R*cos(θ)

y = R*sin(θ)

Then we have:

(7,217pi/180 )

R = 7

θ = (217/180)*pi

x = 7*cos( (217/180)*pi) = -5.59

y = 7*sin( (217/180)*pi) = -4.21

So this point is (-5.59, -4.21) in rectangular coordinates.

And the other point is  (5,-23pi/36 )

R = 5

θ = -(23/36)*pi

x = 5*cos(  -(23/36)*pi ) = -2.11

y = 5*sin(  -(23/36)*pi ) = -4.53

So this point is (-2.11, - 4.53)

Then the point distance between those points is:

D = I (-2.11, -4.53) - (-5.59, -4.21) I

D = I (-2.11 + 5.59, -4.53 + 4.21) I

D = I (3.48, -0.32) I = √( (3.48)^2 + (-0.32)^2) =  3.49