Looking at the graphs of polar curves can be quite fascinating. Doing “calculus” kinds of things is different, yet the same as in Cartesian coordinates. A discussion on the AP Calculus Community here got me thinking about extreme values of polar functions. The terms maximum and minimum here refers to the value of r(θ) which…
A recent thread on the AP Calculus Community bulletin boards concerned polar equations. One teacher observed that her students do not have a very solid understanding of polar graphs when they get to calculus. I expect this is a common problem. While ideally the polar coordinate system should be a major topic in pre-calculus course,…
Unit 9 includes all the topics listed in the title. These are BC only topics (CED – 2019 p. 163 – 176). These topics account for about 11 – 12% of questions on the BC exam. Comments on Prerequisites: In BC Calculus the work with parametric, vector, and polar equations is somewhat limited. I always…
AP Questions Type 9: Polar Equations (BC Only) Ideally, as with parametric and vector functions, polar curves should be introduced and covered thoroughly in a pre-calculus course. Questions on the BC exams have been concerned only with calculus ideas related to polar curves. Students have not been asked to know the names of the various…
