Using the polar coordinate exploration tool

Notes on the interface

The polar coordinate exploration tool allows you to input polar coordinates for two points, and then animate the process of locating the points from the polar coordinates. Polar values are restricted to the range , and polar values are restricted to the range . Polar values are radian measurements, so it's natural to use rational multiples of as values. The θ1 and θ2 input boxes allow the entry of symbolic expressions using 'pi' for . After entering a pair of polar coordinates you must click the corresponding Plot point button to trigger the animation.

The ability to plot two points together facilitates exploration of the lack of uniqueness of polar coordinate representations of any given point.

As is the case for many of the tools in this toolkit, the graphics are draggable.