Physics - Polar Coordinates: Describe the locus of points

[bobraymund]

Hi,

So, I was doing my physics summer work and had no idea what the following question was talking about:

Homework Statement

For the following polar coordinate points:

(4, 0) (4, 60) (4, 90) (4, 135) (4, 180) (4, 270)

Describe the locus of points for which

a) r = 4
b) r = a

An image, for reference, can be seen http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/6422/0815002025.jpg .

The Attempt at a Solution

I was thinking that the answer would be merely saying something like (4, 0) (4, 60) (4, 90) (4, 135) (4, 180) (4, 270), because those are all the points at r = 4. But I have no idea. :(

Thanks for the help!

 

[rl.bhat]

The locus of the points is a circle with center (0, 0) and radius 4.

 

[bobraymund]

Ah, thanks! that makes sense!

So, then this one here: http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/6007/0815002113.jpg

Would that be a line with like slope ?

Edit: the second question states: describe the locus of points for which theta = 60 and theta = theta1 (where theta1 is a fixed angle)

 

[rl.bhat]

Yes. It is a straight line.