Yead, I dropped 'C' from the numerator in the integral and thanks for the suggestion on the polar form of the equation being equivalent to rcos(θ+α)=C, but I'm still getting an integral that doesn't seem to fit this form:
θ = √(-(C/r)^2 + 1) / C^2 for C^2/R^2 <= 1
Maybe if I just show...
Homework Statement
Find the shortest distance between two points using polar coordinates, ie, using them as a line element:
ds^2 = dr^2 + r^2 dθ^2Homework Equations
For an integral
I = ∫f
Euler-Lagrange Eq must hold
df/dθ - d/dr(df/dθ') = 0
The Attempt at a Solution
f = ds = √(1 + (r *...