Polar coordinates?

Question

I need some help understanding polar coordinates and the part that confuses me is when they give you a coordinate to graph and ask more sets. For example, the polar coordinate given is

(2, 30 degrees)

and then asks for three different sets of polar coordinates

and this is where i get lost

Sorry, when I asked for three different sets, it has to relate to the problem. For (2,30), my teacher says there are three other sets which define this coordinate

Answer 1

Hi. It looks like they simply want three more different sets, like (3,45) etc. A polar coordinate simply describes a point relative to another, central, point. In your example the point is 2 units distant at an angle of 30 degrees.

Answer 2

I think what they mean is that other angles will be the same point if they are a multiple of 360 degrees above or below. Therefore (2, 390 deg), (2, 750 deg), (2, -330 deg) are the same as (2, 30 deg).

Answer 3

When you make a complete revolution, you return to the same point.
Maybe you're talking about the coordinates
(2, 30d)
= (2, 360d + 30d) = (2, 390d) = (2, 360d+ 390d)
. = (2, 360d + 750d)etc.
= (2, -360d + 30d) = (2, -330d) = (2, -360d - 330d)
. = (2, -360d -690d)etc.

By the way: Be sure to get accustomed to using radians before you start using polar equations.