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Ch.12 - Parametric and Polar Curves
Briggs - Calculus: Early Transcendentals 3rd Edition
Briggs3rd EditionCalculus: Early TranscendentalsISBN: 9780136847243Not the one you use?Change textbook
Chapter 12, Problem 12.3.14

11–20. Slopes of tangent lines Find the slope of the line tangent to the following polar curves at the given points.


r = 4 + sin θ; (4, 0) and (3, 3π/2)

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Recall that for a polar curve given by \(r = f(\theta)\), the slope of the tangent line \(\frac{dy}{dx}\) can be found using the formulas for \(x\) and \(y\) in terms of \(r\) and \(\theta\): \(x = r \cos \theta\) and \(y = r \sin \theta\).
Express \(x\) and \(y\) as functions of \(\theta\): \(x(\theta) = (4 + \sin \theta) \cos \theta\) and \(y(\theta) = (4 + \sin \theta) \sin \theta\).
Find the derivatives \(\frac{dx}{d\theta}\) and \(\frac{dy}{d\theta}\) by applying the product rule to each: \(\frac{dx}{d\theta} = \frac{d}{d\theta}[(4 + \sin \theta) \cos \theta]\) and \(\frac{dy}{d\theta} = \frac{d}{d\theta}[(4 + \sin \theta) \sin \theta]\).
Use the chain rule and product rule to compute these derivatives explicitly, remembering that \(\frac{d}{d\theta}(\sin \theta) = \cos \theta\) and \(\frac{d}{d\theta}(\cos \theta) = -\sin \theta\).
Calculate the slope of the tangent line at each given point by evaluating \(\frac{dy}{dx} = \frac{\frac{dy}{d\theta}}{\frac{dx}{d\theta}}\) at the corresponding \(\theta\) values: \(\theta = 0\) for the point \((4,0)\) and \(\theta = \frac{3\pi}{2}\) for the point \((3, \frac{3\pi}{2})\).

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Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Polar Coordinates and Polar Curves

Polar coordinates represent points using a radius r and an angle θ from the positive x-axis. Polar curves are equations expressed as r = f(θ), describing how the radius changes with the angle. Understanding this system is essential to analyze points and curves given in polar form.
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Intro to Polar Coordinates

Slope of Tangent Lines in Polar Coordinates

The slope of a tangent line to a polar curve at a point is found by converting the polar equation to Cartesian coordinates or using the formula dy/dx = (dr/dθ sin θ + r cos θ) / (dr/dθ cos θ - r sin θ). This formula relates derivatives of r with respect to θ to the slope in the xy-plane.
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Slopes of Tangent Lines

Differentiation with Respect to θ

To find the slope of the tangent line, you must differentiate r = 4 + sin θ with respect to θ. This involves applying basic differentiation rules to trigonometric functions, which is crucial for computing dr/dθ and subsequently the slope dy/dx.
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