Precalculus Examples

$(- \sqrt{255}, 3 + \sqrt{2})$

Step 1

Convert from rectangular coordinates $(x, y)$ to polar coordinates $(r, θ)$ using the conversion formulas.

$r = \sqrt{x^{2} + y^{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 2

Replace $x$ and $y$ with the actual values.

$r = \sqrt{{(- \sqrt{255})}^{2} + {(3 + \sqrt{2})}^{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3

Find the magnitude of the polar coordinate.

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Step 3.1

Simplify by cancelling exponent with radical.

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Step 3.1.1

Apply the product rule to $- \sqrt{255}$ .

$r = \sqrt{{(- 1)}^{2} {\sqrt{255}}^{2} + {(3 + \sqrt{2})}^{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.1.2

Simplify the expression.

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Step 3.1.2.1

Raise $- 1$ to the power of $2$ .

$r = \sqrt{1 {\sqrt{255}}^{2} + {(3 + \sqrt{2})}^{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.1.2.2

Multiply ${\sqrt{255}}^{2}$ by $1$ .

$r = \sqrt{{\sqrt{255}}^{2} + {(3 + \sqrt{2})}^{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

$r = \sqrt{{\sqrt{255}}^{2} + {(3 + \sqrt{2})}^{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.1.3

Rewrite ${\sqrt{255}}^{2}$ as $255$ .

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Step 3.1.3.1

Use $\sqrt[n]{a^{x}} = a^{\frac{x}{n}}$ to rewrite $\sqrt{255}$ as $255^{\frac{1}{2}}$ .

$r = \sqrt{{(255^{\frac{1}{2}})}^{2} + {(3 + \sqrt{2})}^{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.1.3.2

Apply the power rule and multiply exponents, ${(a^{m})}^{n} = a^{m n}$ .

$r = \sqrt{255^{\frac{1}{2} \cdot 2} + {(3 + \sqrt{2})}^{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.1.3.3

Combine $\frac{1}{2}$ and $2$ .

$r = \sqrt{255^{\frac{2}{2}} + {(3 + \sqrt{2})}^{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.1.3.4

Cancel the common factor of $2$ .

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Step 3.1.3.4.1

Cancel the common factor.

$r = \sqrt{255^{\frac{2}{2}} + {(3 + \sqrt{2})}^{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.1.3.4.2

Rewrite the expression.

$r = \sqrt{255 + {(3 + \sqrt{2})}^{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

$r = \sqrt{255 + {(3 + \sqrt{2})}^{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.1.3.5

Evaluate the exponent.

$r = \sqrt{255 + {(3 + \sqrt{2})}^{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

$r = \sqrt{255 + {(3 + \sqrt{2})}^{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.1.4

Rewrite ${(3 + \sqrt{2})}^{2}$ as $(3 + \sqrt{2}) (3 + \sqrt{2})$ .

$r = \sqrt{255 + (3 + \sqrt{2}) (3 + \sqrt{2})}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

$r = \sqrt{255 + (3 + \sqrt{2}) (3 + \sqrt{2})}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.2

Expand $(3 + \sqrt{2}) (3 + \sqrt{2})$ using the FOIL Method.

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Step 3.2.1

Apply the distributive property.

$r = \sqrt{255 + 3 (3 + \sqrt{2}) + \sqrt{2} (3 + \sqrt{2})}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.2.2

Apply the distributive property.

$r = \sqrt{255 + 3 \cdot 3 + 3 \sqrt{2} + \sqrt{2} (3 + \sqrt{2})}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.2.3

Apply the distributive property.

$r = \sqrt{255 + 3 \cdot 3 + 3 \sqrt{2} + \sqrt{2} \cdot 3 + \sqrt{2} \sqrt{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

$r = \sqrt{255 + 3 \cdot 3 + 3 \sqrt{2} + \sqrt{2} \cdot 3 + \sqrt{2} \sqrt{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.3

Simplify and combine like terms.

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Step 3.3.1

Simplify each term.

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Step 3.3.1.1

Multiply $3$ by $3$ .

$r = \sqrt{255 + 9 + 3 \sqrt{2} + \sqrt{2} \cdot 3 + \sqrt{2} \sqrt{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.3.1.2

Move $3$ to the left of $\sqrt{2}$ .

$r = \sqrt{255 + 9 + 3 \sqrt{2} + 3 \cdot \sqrt{2} + \sqrt{2} \sqrt{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.3.1.3

Combine using the product rule for radicals.

$r = \sqrt{255 + 9 + 3 \sqrt{2} + 3 \sqrt{2} + \sqrt{2 \cdot 2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.3.1.4

Multiply $2$ by $2$ .

$r = \sqrt{255 + 9 + 3 \sqrt{2} + 3 \sqrt{2} + \sqrt{4}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.3.1.5

Rewrite $4$ as $2^{2}$ .

$r = \sqrt{255 + 9 + 3 \sqrt{2} + 3 \sqrt{2} + \sqrt{2^{2}}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.3.1.6

Pull terms out from under the radical, assuming positive real numbers.

$r = \sqrt{255 + 9 + 3 \sqrt{2} + 3 \sqrt{2} + 2}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

$r = \sqrt{255 + 9 + 3 \sqrt{2} + 3 \sqrt{2} + 2}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.3.2

Add $9$ and $2$ .

$r = \sqrt{255 + 11 + 3 \sqrt{2} + 3 \sqrt{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.3.3

Add $3 \sqrt{2}$ and $3 \sqrt{2}$ .

$r = \sqrt{255 + 11 + 6 \sqrt{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

$r = \sqrt{255 + 11 + 6 \sqrt{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 3.4

Add $255$ and $11$ .

$r = \sqrt{266 + 6 \sqrt{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

$r = \sqrt{266 + 6 \sqrt{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{y}{x})$

Step 4

Replace $x$ and $y$ with the actual values.

$r = \sqrt{266 + 6 \sqrt{2}}$

$θ = t a n^{- 1} (\frac{3 + \sqrt{2}}{- \sqrt{255}})$

Step 5

The inverse tangent of $- \frac{3 \sqrt{255} + \sqrt{510}}{255}$ is $θ = 164.54766936 °$ .

$r = \sqrt{266 + 6 \sqrt{2}}$

$θ = 164.54766936 °$

Step 6

This is the result of the conversion to polar coordinates in $(r, θ)$ form.

$(\sqrt{266 + 6 \sqrt{2}}, 164.54766936 °)$