Can anyone direct me to learn more about polar coordinates. I'm in online college course and really am confused. In high school, I never heard of polar coordinates.
Like they say is the following the graph of point (3,15) and show it on polar grid-I don't get it at all. Please direct me somewhere to learn this or can you give me any easy explanation-thank you
Salmon Khan in his award-winning
Khanacademy videos gives a very simple-to-understand introduction to polar coordinates.
http://www.khanacademy.org/video/polar-coordinates-1?playlist=Precalculus
click on "next video" to go through the lessons
Certainly! I can provide you with both a brief explanation of polar coordinates and direct you to some resources where you can learn more about this topic.
Polar coordinates are a way of representing points in a two-dimensional space using two quantities: the radial distance from the origin (usually denoted as r) and the angle formed with a reference direction (usually denoted as θ or phi). This system is different from the more familiar Cartesian coordinates (x, y), where the position of a point is determined by its horizontal and vertical distances from the origin.
To better understand polar coordinates, it can be helpful to visualize them on a polar grid, which is a circular grid with a central point representing the origin. The radial distance determines how far the point is from the origin, and the angle determines the direction in which the point is located.
To learn more about polar coordinates, here are some resources you can explore:
1. Khan Academy: Khan Academy offers free online lessons and practice exercises for a wide range of subjects, including polar coordinates. You can find their comprehensive lesson on polar coordinates here: https://www.khanacademy.org/math/precalculus/x9e81a4f98389efdf:polar-coordinates
2. Purplemath: Purplemath is a website that provides clear explanations and examples for various math topics. They have a page dedicated to polar coordinates that can be helpful for understanding the basics: https://www.purplemath.com/modules/polar.htm
3. YouTube tutorials: You can also find numerous video tutorials on platforms like YouTube that explain polar coordinates in a visual and interactive way. One popular math channel to consider is "Math Easy Solutions": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3qqvXtfez0
Remember that practice makes perfect, so try to reinforce your understanding by solving problems and practicing graphing points in polar coordinates. Good luck with your studies!