# Rectangular to Polar Conversions

## Convert from cartesian to polar coordinates

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Practice Rectangular to Polar Conversions

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Trigonometric Ratios of Points on the Terminal Side of an Angle

Trig Riddle: I am the point . What are my polar coordinates?

### Trigonometric Ratios of Points

Any point in the coordinate plane can be represented by its angle of rotation and radius, or distance from the origin. The point is said to lie on the terminal side of the angle. We can find the measure of the reference angle using right triangle trigonometry. When the point is identified in this manner we call the coordinates Polar coordinates. They are written as , where is the radius and is the angle of rotation. The angle of rotation can be given in degrees or radians.

Let's find the angle of rotation (in degrees) and radius (distance from the origin) of the point .

First, make a sketch, plot the point and drop a perpendicular to the -axis to make a right triangle.

From the sketch, we can see that is the reference angle so the angle of rotation is .

The radius or distance from the origin is the hypotenuse of the right triangle.

Using this information, we can write the point in Polar coordinate form as

Now, let's write the Cartesian coordinates, , in Polar form and give the angle in degrees.

We can find the reference angle again using tangent: . So the angle of rotation is

The Polar coordinates are thus

Note: You may have noticed that there is a pattern that gives us a short cut for finding the Polar coordinates for any Cartesian coordinates, :

The reference angle can be found using, and then the angle of rotation can be found by placing the reference angle in the appropriate quadrant and giving a positive angle of rotation from the positive – axis or . The radius is always and should be given in reduced radical form.

Finally, given the point on the terminal side of an angle, let's find the Polar coordinates (in radians) of the point and the six trigonometric ratios for the angle.

Make sure your calculator is in radian mode. Using the shortcut, we can find the Polar coordinates:

. Since and are both negative, the point lies in the third quadrant which makes the angle of rotation . The radius will be . The Polar coordinates are . As for the six trigonometric ratios, a diagram will help us:

We already know that , so .

Now we can use the hypotenuse, to find the other ratios:

and .

and

### Examples

#### Example 1

Earlier, you were asked to find the polar coordinates of the point .

First, make a sketch, plot the point and drop a perpendicular to the -axis to make a right triangle.

From the sketch, we can see that is the reference angle. The point is in the second quadrant, so the angle of rotation is .

The radius or distance from the origin is the hypotenuse of the right triangle.

Therefore, my polar coordinates are .

#### Example 2

Find the angle of rotation (in degrees) and radius (distance from the origin) of the point .

,

#### Example 3

Write the Cartesian coordinates, , in Polar form(in radians) and find the six trigonometric ratios for the angle.

and so the polar coordinates are .

The six trigonometric ratios are:

#### Example 4

Given the point on the terminal side of an angle, find the Polar coordinates (in degrees) of the point and the six trigonometric ratios for the angle.

and so the polar coordinates are .

The six trigonometric ratios are:

### Review

Angle measures should be rounded to the dearest degree or hundredth of a radian or given exactly if possible. All values of should be given in reduced radical form.

Write the following Cartesian coordinate pairs in Polar form. Use degrees for problems 1 and 2 and radians for problems 3-5.

Given the points on the terminal side of an angle, find the Polar coordinates (in degrees) of the point and the six trigonometric ratios for the angles.

Given the points on the terminal side of an angle, find the Polar coordinates (in radians) of the point and the six trigonometric ratios for the angles.

To see the Review answers, open this PDF file and look for section 13.10.

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