The polar coordinates system defines a given point by using a distance and an angle as it's two coordinates instead of the standard two distances ( and ). The two coordinates are typically (the distance from the origin) and (the angle from what is usually the positive -axis).

Polar coordinates can be extended into three dimensions using either the cylindrical coordinate system which adds another distance coordinate, or the spherical coordinate system which uses two angles and a distance from the origin.

Conversion Between Cartesian Coordinates System and Polar Coordinates

To convert between the cartesian coordinates system and the polar coordinates system, we can use the following formulas:

and conversely,