10.6 Polar Coordinates

This section introduces us to graphing using polar coordinates rather than the usual rectangular (x,y) coordinates. Polar coordinates are (r,Ø) [that Ø is the closest thing to theta I could get]. The four equations in the picture below are used to transfer polar equations into rectangular equations and vice versa. 

This next picture is an example of changing a polar equation into a rectangular one. Knowing the angle, you can plug it into the top-left equation from the above picture. The final answer is boxed below:

This printable paper is helpful to use for graphing polar equations:

http://www.embeddedmath.com/downloads/files/polargraph/polargraph-letter.pdf