CorePure2 Chapter 5 ::

Polar Coordinates
jfrost@tiffin.kingston.sch.uk
www.drfrostmaths.com
@DrFrostMaths

Last modified: 10th August 2018

www.drfrostmaths.com Register now to interactively practise questions on this topic, including
past paper questions and extension questions (including MAT + UKMT).
Everything is completely free. Teachers: you can create student accounts (or students can register
Why not register? themselves), to set work, monitor progress and even create worksheets.

With questions by:

Dashboard with points,

trophies, notifications
and student progress.

Questions organised by topic,

difficulty and past paper.
Teaching videos with topic
tests to check understanding.
What the devil are polar coordinates?
 You’ve actually encountered polar coordinates already via complex numbers.
Recall that you could define complex numbers either in Cartesian form, or in
‘polar form’ using the distance from the origin and anticlockwise angle from
the positive -axis.

 𝑟

 𝜃
initial line

Cartesian Mike Polar Mike

  Thuva is at   Thuva is at?

  Cartesian Form:   Polar Form:

Converting to/from polar coordinates
You should already know how to do this from Chapter 1.
But a reminder:

2 2 2
𝑥=𝑟 cos𝜃 𝑦=𝑟sin 𝜃 𝑟 =𝑥 + 𝑦
 
For 1st and 4th quadrants – use a
diagram for others

Quickfire Questions:
Cartesian Polar

?
?
?
?
  − tan − 1
𝜋 ( 125 )
?
 
Polar equation Cartesian equation
Sometimes it is possible to switch from a Cartesian equation to a polar one.

Find Cartesian equations for the following:  Fro Tip: Use

 
?

?
Note that the polar
form is much more
elegant!

?
Why polar form sometimes kicks Cartesian’s butt
2 2 2
𝑟 =𝑥 + 𝑦
 

Think why

 
This rather lovely spiral pattern has the very simple polar equation .
In Cartesian form:

which is horrid. ?
 
Cartesian equation Polar equation
2 2 2
𝑟 =𝑥 + 𝑦
Converting to polar is easier, but the harder part is often finding how  
to simplify the expression. Know your double angle formulae!

Find polar equations for the following:

We know how to simplify expressions

? like this from Pure Year 2.
Exercise 5A
Pearson Core Pure Year 2
Page 104
Sketching Curves of Polar Equations
How would you sketch each of the following?

  𝑟= 𝑎   𝜃 =𝛼   𝑟= 𝑎 𝜃

 
e.g.  
e.g.  
e.g.

? ? ?

(This
  is just like when Known
  as a half-line.
we were sketching say Just like with complex
) numbers.
Sketching using tables of values
 Remember in Pure Year 2 when we did parametric equations: we could draw curves by trying
different values of the parameter. And for Cartesian equations, you’re used to (from KS3) drawing
up a table of values for and seeing what is so we could sketch it.
Here we can gradually increase and see what is.
 The here means

𝑟=sin(4
  𝜃)

(Note:
  In this animation is allowed to be negative, but in Core Pure Yr2 negative values are ignored. More on
this later)
Sketching using tables of values
Note: technically polar
 angles are between and
, but to keeps things
 𝑟= 𝑎 ( 1+cos 𝜃 ) simple, and it of course This is a cardioid, and this
doesn’t matter when
generating values. animation shows how it
could emerge in practice!

?
𝜋
  =
𝜃
2
 𝑎

𝜃=𝜋 Sketch ?
2  𝑎 𝜃=0
   

 𝑎
More sketchies
 Important Note: It’s usually possible to have negative (where we’d end up on the
opposite side of the origin). However Core Pure Yr2 assumes that we only sketch parts of
curves where .
  𝑟 = sin 3𝜃  𝑟 2 = 𝑎2 cos 2 𝜃
(If
  then thus which then repeats , …) ?  If then and ?
and (and will repeat)
?
? ?
? ?

Sketch ? Sketch ?
(Known
as a
‘polar
rose’)
Just for fun… (not in the syllabus)
  Below is a polar rose:
 For from 0 to
 For from 0 to

2
 
𝜃= 𝜋
3

 
Clearly cos of any multiple of will be the
 As previously discussed, usually is same as , and thus we’re back where we
allowed to be negative. At , will be 0. started.
So even though the half line is Note that (which is a multiple of 2), thus the
sweeping further anticlockwise, we polar plot repeats every .
end up in this region on the wrong side The pattern will always repeat provided the
of the origin. coefficient of is rational.
Just for fun… (not in the syllabus)
And it can get rather pretty…
  𝟑
  𝟏𝟑 𝒓= 𝜽 𝐜𝐨𝐬 ( 𝜽)
𝒓=𝐜𝐨𝐬 ( 𝜽) 𝟐
𝟗𝟗 (This is a spiral combined with a polar rose)
Just for fun… (not in the syllabus)
 
𝒓 = 𝐜𝐨𝐬 ( 𝐞 𝜽 )
 Here however is irrational, so it will NEVER repeat!

 For from 0 to  For from 0 to

Egg vs Dimple
 
𝑟= 𝑎 ( 𝑝 +𝑞 cos 𝜃 )
 If we require that then the curve is defined for all if:
?

Case 1
 When we get a cardioid (where the curve reaches the
origin when
Case 2
 When we get an oval shape
(and if , a circle centred at the origin).

Case 3
 When we get dimple shape (We will see
(as with a cardioid, although here the curve will never be at the origin why we get
because and not equal to 0). the ‘egg’ vs
‘dimple’ later.)
Egg vs Dimple
 
𝑟= 𝑎 ( 𝑝 +𝑞 cos 𝜃 )  Egg if

 
Sketch  
Sketch

? ?
 𝑦
3
  𝑎
 5 𝑎

 𝜃=0
Sketch ?  𝜃=0 Sketch ? 5
  𝑎
3
  𝑎 7
  𝑎

 5 𝑎
3
  𝑎
Final Example
 [Textbook] (a) Show on an Argand diagram the locus of points given by the values of satisfying
(b) Show that this locus of points can be represented by the polar curve

8
In
  Cartesian form:
3+4
  𝑖
?a ?b
6
Exercise 5B
Pearson Core Pure Year 2
Page 108-109
Summary so Far
  𝑟= 𝑎   𝜃 =𝛼 Fro Helping
Hand:
You can prove
𝑎  these by
𝜃=𝛼
  converting
equation to
? ? 𝜃=0
  Cartesian.
𝑎  𝑎 
Fro Exam Tip:
𝑎  I lifted each of
these forms
  𝑟= 2 𝑎 cos 𝜃   𝑟= 𝑘 𝜃 directly out of the
Edexcel
specification.
A
  circle of
radius centre .

𝑎  ? 2𝑎  ?
Summary so Far
 𝑟= 𝑎 ( 1+cos 𝜃 ) 𝑟= 𝑎 ( 1− cos 𝜃 )
 

(special name: cardioid)

𝜋
 =
𝜃
2
 𝑟=𝑎
 Think about it: now
? ? when , so we start
at the origin. And
𝜃=𝜋
  𝜃=0
 
𝑟=2
  𝑎 when , will be at its
maximum.

𝑟=𝑎
 
  𝑟= 𝑎 ( 3 +2 cos 𝜃 )
 therefore
dimpled.

?
Summary so Far
  𝑟= 𝑎 cos 2 𝜃   𝑟 2= 𝑎2 cos 2 𝜃
𝑎 
However
 
because FP2
requires that ,
? 𝑎  we won’t see ?
top and bottom
petals.
However because the LHS is squared
 positive, it forces the RHS to be
positive, so regardless of whether we
restrict , those other two petals won’t
be there.

  𝑟= 𝑝 sec ( 𝛼 − 𝜃 )   𝑟 = 𝑎 sec ( 𝜃 )

𝑥=𝑟cos𝜃
 Converting to Cartesian:  

?
𝑎  ?
Integration
When integrating normal Cartesian Similarly in Core Pure Years 1 and 2, we could
2D areas, we know we’re summing get a volume of revolution by summing the
a bunch of infinitely thin rectangles: volumes of infinitely thin cylinders:
Volume of each cylinder
Area of each rectangle:
2
 ¿ 𝑓 ( 𝑥 )?𝑑𝑥 ¿  𝜋 𝑓 ( 𝑥)
? 𝑑𝑥
Adding them all for total volume:
Adding them all for area:
𝑏
𝑏  
 
∫ 𝑓 ( ?𝑥 ) 𝑑𝑥 ∫ 𝜋 𝑓 (?𝑥 )2 𝑑𝑥  
𝑎
𝑎

𝑓  (𝑥)
𝑎
  𝑏
 

𝑑𝑥
 
𝑓  (𝑥)

𝑎
  𝑑𝑥 𝑏
 
Fro Exam Note: Historically in FP2, these last two sections:
  integration and tangents/normal, are what exam
questions were almost always based on. This emphasis
may or may not have shifted for the new A Level.
Integration
 
Can we apply to same principle to find the area
bound between a polar curve and two half lines
and ?
Area of each sector:

  1 2
𝜃=𝛽
  ¿ 𝑟 𝑑? 𝜃
2

𝑑  𝜃  𝑟 Adding them all for total area:

𝜃=𝛼
  𝛽
1
 
2
∫ 𝑟
? 𝑑𝜃
2𝛼
Example
 Find the area enclosed by the cardioid with equation

  could always just integrate between

We
and and then double the area (since it’s
repeated):

?
?
?
?

𝛽
 
1 2
𝐴= ∫ 𝑟 𝑑𝜃  Fro Tip: Because they come up all the time, you
2 𝛼 should memorise:
and
Another Example
 Find the area of one loop of the polar rose

  𝜋
2 4
𝑎 2
𝐴= ∫ sin ? 4𝜃 𝑑𝜃
2 0

 and
Test Your Understanding So Far

Edexcel FP2(Old) June 2009 Q4

 Figure 1 shows a sketch of the curve with
polar equation

The area enclosed by the curve is .

Find the value of .
(8)

?
 Intersecting Areas
 
When polar curves intersect we have to consider which curve we’re finding
the area under for each value of .

 (a) On the same diagram sketch the curves with equations and
(b) Find the polar coordinates of the points of intersection of these two curves.
(c) Find the exact value of the area of the finite region bound between the two
curves.

We
  have to find areas A and B separately because
the curve we’re under suddenly changes at a
particular value of (we’ll find in (b)).  

(b) ?
A
B
(a) ? 𝜃=0
 

No
  dimple
because
(c) ?
() (Use your ClassWiz to
check!)
Test Your Understanding
FP2 June 2010 Q5
Figure
  1 shows the curves given by the polar equations

(a) Find the coordinates of the points where the curves intersect. (3)
(b) The region for which and is shown. Find, by integration, area of
giving your answer in the form where and are simplified fractions.
(7)

(a) ?

(b) ?
Exercise 5C
Pearson Core Pure Year 2
Page 111-112
Tangents and Normals
 Remember how you found the gradient given equations in parametric form?

?
 We know that in the polar world:

!  When parallel to the

initial line,
?

!
  When perpendicular to
the initial line, ?
Example
 Find the coordinates of the points on where the tangents are parallel to the
initial line .

Since
  we’re about to find , start with
  and ensure expression is only in
terms of .

Use
 

Coordinates: and ?
Test Your Understanding So Far
Edexcel FP2(Old) June 2012 Q2
 The curve has polar equation

At the point on , the tangent to is parallel to the initial line.

Given that is the pole, find the exact length of the line .

?
Example
 Find the equations and the points of contact of the tangents to the curve

that are (a) parallel to the initial line and (b) perpendicular to the initial line.

 
 
The equation of the tangent through is
We need to find . If , then using a right-angled the initial line:
triangle,

Thus points are Thus equation of the tangent through

in Cartesian form: (using for this
particular angle):
(a) point? Thus:
(a) tangent?
Example
 Find the equations and the points of contact of the tangents to the curve

that are (a) parallel to the initial line and (b) perpendicular to the initial line.

 
  Tip: There’s two skills we
Fro
… used here which are less obvious:

Tangents at and ? • If you know one of tan, sin or

cos, you can find the others by
One tangent is the -axis:
constructing an appropriate
triangle.
The other is • Once you’ve found your
So point , if you’re finding the
line parallel to the initial line,
use using your specific to find
.
? Then use AGAIN, using your ,
where is again general, to
turn your Cartesian equation
into a polar one.
Proof of dimple vs egg
 Prove that for we have a ‘dimple’ if .

 
What’s the difference in terms of tangents?
The first has 2 tangents perpendicular to the initial line. The second has 3!
?
The first corresponds to the left and right-most tangents (where and ).
If then which has no solutions, so there will be no other tangent.
If then which gives us , i.e. there is no extra solution.
?
Exercise 5D
Pearson Core Pure Year 2
Page 115-116

(Note: I have included an Edexcel FP2 (Old Spec) compilation of Polar

Coordinate questions with the download for these slides)