Conic Sections Polar Coordinates
Graphing the polar equations of conics.
Conic sections polar coordinates. If a conic section is written as a polar equation what must be true of the denominator. We must use the eccentricity of a conic section to determine which type of curve to graph and then determine its specific characteristics. In polar coordinates a conic section with one focus at the origin and if any the other at a negative value for an ellipse or a positive value for a hyperbola on the x axis is given by the equation where e is the eccentricity and l is the semi latus rectum.
When graphing in cartesian coordinates each conic section has a unique equation. 11 8 polar equations of conics we have seen that geometrically the conic sections are related since they are all created by intersecting a plane with a right circular cone. 1 2cos θ again we start by plotting some points on this curve.
We must use the eccentricity of a conic section to determine which type of curve to graph and then determine its specific characteristics. This is not the case when graphing in polar coordinates. D p f the distance between p and f.
X r cos θ y r sin θ we can convert these polar coordinates to rectangular coordinates show in fig ure 1. This is not the case when graphing in polar coordinates. When graphing in cartesian coordinates each conic section has a unique equation.
θ r 1 0 3 2 π 2 π 1 1 by using the equations. We must use the eccentricity of a conic section to determine which type of curve to graph and then determine its specific characteristics. Graphing the polar equations of conics when graphing in cartesian coordinates each conic section has a unique equation.
In certain situations this makes more sense the. Let f be a fixed point and l a fixed line in the plane. In this section we will see how they are related algebraically.