How do you convert #x^2 + y^2 = 16# into polar form?

1 Answer
Nov 21, 2015

#\rho^2=16#.

Explanation:

By definition, you pass from #(x,y)# coordinates to #(rho, theta)# coordinates by:

#rho = sqrt(x^2+y^2)#
#theta = arctan(y/x)# ( with some changes depending on the sign of #x# and #y#).

So, in your case, the equation becomes simply #\rho^2=16#. This means that the equation represents all the points with distance #4# from the origin, which is a circumference with radius #4#, centered in the origin.