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In mathematics, a parametric equation expresses several quantities, such as the coordinates of a point, as functions of one or several variables called parameters. [ 1 ] In the case of a single parameter, parametric equations are commonly used to express the trajectory of a moving point, in which case, the parameter is often, but not ...
Let (x, y, z) be the standard Cartesian coordinates, and (ρ, θ, φ) the spherical coordinates, with θ the angle measured away from the +Z axis (as , see conventions in spherical coordinates). As φ has a range of 360° the same considerations as in polar (2 dimensional) coordinates apply whenever an arctangent of it is taken. θ has a range ...
A Cartesian coordinate surface in this space is a coordinate plane; for example z = 0 defines the x-y plane. In the same space, the coordinate surface r = 1 in spherical coordinates is the surface of a unit sphere, which is curved. The formalism of curvilinear coordinates provides a unified and general description of the standard coordinate ...
A cylindrical coordinate system is a three-dimensional coordinate system that specifies point positions by the distance from a chosen reference axis (axis L in the image opposite), the direction from the axis relative to a chosen reference direction (axis A), and the distance from a chosen reference plane perpendicular to the axis (plane ...
This article uses the standard notation ISO 80000-2, which supersedes ISO 31-11, for spherical coordinates (other sources may reverse the definitions of θ and φ): . The polar angle is denoted by [,]: it is the angle between the z-axis and the radial vector connecting the origin to the point in question.
Construction of the limaçon r = 2 + cos(π – θ) with polar coordinates' origin at (x, y) = ( 1 / 2 , 0). In geometry, a limaçon or limacon / ˈ l ɪ m ə s ɒ n /, also known as a limaçon of Pascal or Pascal's Snail, is defined as a roulette curve formed by the path of a point fixed to a circle when that circle rolls around the outside of a circle of equal radius.
Curves with closed-form solutions for arc length include the catenary, circle, cycloid, logarithmic spiral, parabola, semicubical parabola and straight line. The lack of a closed form solution for the arc length of an elliptic and hyperbolic arc led to the development of the elliptic integrals.
Such a parametric equation completely determines the curve, without the need of any interpretation of t as time, and is thus called a parametric equation of the curve (this is sometimes abbreviated by saying that one has a parametric curve). One similarly gets the parametric equation of a surface by considering functions of two parameters t and u.