Question

Rewrite the Cartesian equation y=-3 as a polar equation.

Answer 1

r

sin

θ

=

−

3

Explanation:

Imagine we have a point  

P

with Rectangular (also called Cartesian) coordinates  

(

x

,

y

)

and Polar coordinates  

(

r

,

θ

)

.

The following diagram will help us visualise the situation better:

https://keisan.casio.com/exec/system/1223526375

https://keisan.casio.com/exec/system/1223526375

We can see that a right triangle is formed with sides  

x

,  

y

and  

r

, as well as an angle  

θ

.

We have to find the relation between the Cartesian and Polar coordinates, respectively.

By Pythagora's theorem, we get the result

r

2

=

x

2

+

y

2

The only properties we can say about  

θ

are its trigonometric functions:

sin

θ

=

y

/

r

⇒

y

=

r

sin

θ

cos

θ

=

x

/

r

⇒

x

=

r

cos

θ

So we have the following relations:

⎧

⎪

⎨

⎪

⎩

r

2

=

x

2

+

y

2

y

=

r

sin

θ

x

=

r

cos

θ

Now, we can see that saying  

y

=

−

3

in the Rectangular system is equivalent to say

r

sin

θ

=

−

3

Answer link

Jim G.

May 19, 2018

r

=

−

3

sin

θ

Explanation:

to convert from  

cartesian to polar

∙

x

x

=

r

cos

θ

and  

y

=

r

sin

θ

⇒

r

sin

θ

=

−

3

⇒

r

=

−

3

sin

θ