Grafieken van poolvergelijkingen

A grid with concentric circles and straight radial lines, all centered at a single point called the pole, defines a polar coordinate system.

Each point on this grid is identified by its distance from the pole and by the angle it makes with the polar axis.

A graph where every point stays the same distance from the origin forms a perfect circle. The radius remains constant throughout the rotation.

A straight line in polar coordinates is traced when the angle remains fixed and the radius increases.

When the radius is represented by a cosine function, the path traced by this radius forms a circle with the origin on its edge.

Changing the sign of the constant a flips the circle across the vertical axis.

The polar graphs help in tracing satellite orbits around Earth. Here, r represents the satellite's distance from the centre of the Earth, and θ is the angle measured from a reference line. This allows accurate tracking of the satellite, as its angle values change continuously, providing precise information about its position relative to Earth's surface.