The Compendium Geometry is an eBook providing facts, formulas and explanations about geometry.

Home Coordinate Systems 2D Polar Coordinate System
See also: Conversion of Coordinates, Cylindrical Coordinate System, Spherical Coordinate System, Cartesian Coordinate System 
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Two-dimensional Polar Coordinate System

The polar coordinate system (sometimes also referred to as "circular coordinates") specifies the position of a point P1 by the combination of its distance to the origin (radius) and the angle between the polar axis and the line P1O. Note, that the angle is positive in counter-clockwise direction and negative in clockwise direction. The value of the angle is measured in radians (0..2π) or degrees (0..360°).

Two points in the polar coordinate system.

The distance d between two points P1 [r1,φ1] and P2 [r2,φ2] is defined by

Home Coordinate Systems 2D Polar Coordinate System

Last Update: 2010-12-06