How do you graph r=3+3costhetar=3+3cosθ on a graphing utility?

1 Answer
Oct 25, 2017

Convert to rectangular form:

x^2+y^2=3sqrt(x^2+y^2)+xx2+y2=3x2+y2+x

Explanation:

Given:

r = 3+3cos thetar=3+3cosθ

Convert from polar to rectangular coordinates using:

r = sqrt(x^2+y^2)r=x2+y2

x = r cos thetax=rcosθ

So multiplying the given equation by rr we find:

x^2+y^2 = r^2 = 3r+3r cos theta = 3sqrt(x^2+y^2) + xx2+y2=r2=3r+3rcosθ=3x2+y2+x

So we can put the equation:

x^2+y^2=3sqrt(x^2+y^2)+xx2+y2=3x2+y2+x

into our graphing utility to get:

graph{x^2+y^2=3sqrt(x^2+y^2)+x [-10, 10, -5, 5]}

Note carefully that this is not a circle.