Thread: Polar to rectangular form.

I'm assuming this is a circle and will end up in x^2+y^2=r^2.

r=-8cos0 (0 being Omega)
Should I start by squaring each side knowing that r^2 will be in the rectangular form?? A little lost, not sure where to begin.

Originally Posted by dashreeve

I'm assuming this is a circle and will end up in x^2+y^2=r^2.

r=-8cos0 (0 being Omega)
Should I start by squaring each side knowing that r^2 will be in the rectangular form?? A little lost, not sure where to begin.

The thing that you need to do here is multiply both sides by r:





Thus, in rectangular form, we get



Does this make sense?

--Chris

That's where I was going wrong, by squaring each side. When you put the 16 in, is that like completing the square?

Originally Posted by dashreeve

That's where I was going wrong, by squaring each side. When you put the 16 in, is that like completing the square?

Yes, it appears as a result of completing the square. Does this seem to make more sense now? This polar stuff can get a little confusing.

--Chris

Yes it makes much more since now, thanks for the help.