Lesson #162 Graphing Polar coordinates

  
Quotes of the Day:
"We are all concerned about the future of American 
   education.  But as I tell my students, you do not enter 
   the future -- you create the future.  The future is 
   created through hard work."  -- Jaime Escalante

"Polar Coordinates aren't just Arctic fashions."


Objectives:
The student will plot polar equations.

1. Examples

       

   Look for a pattern.  (These are called the Rose curves).
   # of petals = n if n is odd integer.
   # of petals = 2n if n is an even integer.
   if n = 1, there is one petal and it is circular.

2. More examples to graph:

       

3. Hand out Sheet entitled, "Some Interesting Polar 
   Curves."
   Discuss the curves.

4. Comic Strip on Polar Coordinates

Click here to go to the next page