Posted by mark on Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 6:09pm.
If that pair of coordinates represents (X,Y), then the easiest way is to do pretty much what you already suggested, but do it systematically in small increments. That is, work out a set of points as follows. -pi/2 is approximately -1.57, so
t=-1.57, X=cos(2t)=-1, Y=sin(t)=-1
t=-1.4, X=cos(2t)=-0.942, Y=sin(t)=-0.985
t=-1.3, X=cos(2t)=-0.856, Y=sin(t)=-0.963
etc etc. Then just plot X vs Y. If you've got access to a spreadsheet you'll find it very quick to do that.
Just one question though: are you sure that interval isn't [-pi/2, +pi/2]? If so, then yes, it's a smooth curve between those limits. But if you're correct about the upper limit for t being pi, then the curve is rather more complicated: it runs smoothly from (-1,1) through (0,0), up to (-1,1) and then bounces back on itself again to (0,0), overwriting itself in the process. If I had to bet, I'd guess that the question has been copied down wrong.
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