Education Technology

Precalculus: Polar Coordinates

by Texas Instruments

About the Lesson

This lesson involves a brief introduction to the polar coordinate system.
As a result, students will:

  • Determine the location (quadrant) of various points given in polar form.
  • Recognize cases in which a point lies on an axis.
  • Convert points between polar and rectangular form.
  • Discover that the polar coordinates for a point are not unique.
  • Sketch the graphs of polar equations.
  • Use their calculators to check graphs sketched using paper and pencil.

*Note: This activity contains an optional AP Practice Questions document for those students preparing for the AP Precalculus Exam.