Calculating areas bounded by polar curves looks extremely difficult. Do Americans really need to integrate such a complex expressions without a calculator?
I am a Japanese and not familiar with a calculus course in the United States.
Looking around Socratic, I found there are so many questions about areas bounded by a polar curve, but few answers are posted.
I know the formula #S=1/2int_alpha^beta{f(theta)}^2d# #theta# .
However, this integration looks often beyond our ability, such as in my previous post which I have finally given up.
https://socratic.org/questions/what-is-the-area-enclosed-by-r-theta-2cos-theta-pi-4-sin-2theta-pi-12-for-theta-
Some questions seem even more difficult. I wonder how the students in the USA perform such a complex integration without a calculator.
I am a Japanese and not familiar with a calculus course in the United States.
Looking around Socratic, I found there are so many questions about areas bounded by a polar curve, but few answers are posted.
I know the formula
However, this integration looks often beyond our ability, such as in my previous post which I have finally given up.
https://socratic.org/questions/what-is-the-area-enclosed-by-r-theta-2cos-theta-pi-4-sin-2theta-pi-12-for-theta-
Some questions seem even more difficult. I wonder how the students in the USA perform such a complex integration without a calculator.
1 Answer
I'm really not sure who's asking these questions. The linked question is a great example of one.
As an American high schooler, I've never been asked such a complex question for school. I think the goal with those is just to use a calculator. Maybe they're just testing knowledge of the polar area formula. Maybe they're testing calculator skills. Not really sure. I'm still gonna try my best to do the linked problem, though!
