Polar Coordinates

 

In some problems with circular symmetry, it is easier to formulate Newton’s laws of motion in a coordinate system that has the same symmetry.  Here we derive equations for velocity and acceleration in polar coordinates and then we solve a few problems.

List of Links

An Intuitive Derivation of the Velocity Equation

Here we define polar coordinates and derive an expression for velocity. The derivation is mostly intuitive. We’ll do the rigorous derivation later. 

An Intuitive Derivation of the Acceleration Equation

There are even more terms in the equation for acceleration. Here we try to think about what they mean. 

Mathematical Derivation of Velocity and Acceleration

Finally, we derive expressions for velocity and acceleration using the definition of derivative, the product rule, and chain rule. 

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