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Polar Angle


There are two different definitions of the polar angle.

PolarAngle

In the plane, the polar angle theta is the counterclockwise angle from the x-axis at which a point in the xy-plane lies.

Zenith

In spherical coordinates, the polar angle is the angle measured from the z-axis, denoted phi in this work, and also variously known as the zenith angle and colatitude.


See also

Azimuth, Colatitude, Cylindrical Coordinates, Polar Coordinates, Polar Equation, Polar Plot, Polar Vector, Spherical Coordinates, Zenith Angle

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Cite this as:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Polar Angle." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/PolarAngle.html

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