Polar representation of a complex number – HP 49g+ User Manual

Page 161

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Polar representation of a complex number

The result shown above represents a Cartesian (rectangular) representation of
the complex number 3.5-1.2i. A polar representation is possible if we
change the coordinate system to cylindrical or polar, by using function CYLIN.
You can find this function in the catalog (

‚N). Changing to polar

shows the result:


For this result the angular measure is set to radians (you can always change to
radians by using function RAD). The result shown above represents a
magnitude, 3.7, and an angle 0.33029…. The angle symbol (

∠) is shown in

front of the angle measure.

Return to Cartesian or rectangular coordinates by using function RECT
(available in the catalog,

‚N). A complex number in polar

representation is written as z = r

⋅e

i

θ

. You can enter this complex number into

the calculator by using an ordered pair of the form (r,

∠θ). The angle symbol

(

∠) can be entered as ~‚6. For example, the complex number z =

5.2e

1.5i

, can be entered as follows (the figures show the stack, before and

after entering the number):

Because the coordinate system is set to rectangular (or Cartesian), the
calculator automatically converts the number entered to Cartesian coordinates,
i.e., x = r cos

θ, y = r sin θ, resulting, for this case, in (0.3678…, 5.18…).


On the other hand, if the coordinate system is set to cylindrical coordinates
(use CYLIN), entering a complex number (x,y), where x and y are real
numbers, will produce a polar representation. For example, in cylindrical
coordinates, enter the number (3.,2.). The figure below shows the RPN stack,
before and after entering this number:

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