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Dorita
Sep15-04, 12:02 PM
Just got back into physics after 4 years in social science and I have forgotten how to convert cartesian coordinates to polar coordinates. The textbook I have makes no metion of it. probably bc I am expected to know this, but I can't remember. I remember how to calculate the distace between two points, but that's it. The two points I have are (2,-4) and (-3,3)

Thanks

Dora

Muzza
Sep15-04, 12:10 PM
You need the angle as well, finding it is a simple application of trigonometry. Maybe these sites will refresh your memory:

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PolarCoordinates.html
http://archives.math.utk.edu/visual.calculus/0/polar.6/