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User Guide: Contents Page Index of Functions

| # Polar Plots
> A polar plot shows a function or data expressed in polar coordinates, where each point is defined by the radial coordinate "r" and the angular coordinate "t". This is is useful in situations where the relationship between two points is most easily expressed in terms of angles and distance. Any X-Y style chart, including function and data plots, can be converted to polar form simply by selecting Axes->Polar Plot. This will cause the data to be treated as if it were of the form:
>     r = f(t)
> Polar grid-lines will also be drawn instead of the usual cartesian grid. See below for an example. When graphing a function, you may wish to explicitly use the angle "t" instead of "x" for the independent variable. In this case, DreamCalc will know that polar coordinates should be used, although polar grid lines will not be drawn unless the Axes->Polar Plot option is selected. Additionally, if the Output to X-Y List option is checked when using "t" as the independent variable, the X-Y data list will be populated with values transformed according to the trigonometric relations below.
>     x = r cos(t)
>     y = r sin(t)
Note that the use of both the "x" and "t" variables in the same input string is disallowed. See also: Chart & List Window, and Graphing Examples. |