How do you find the exact length of the polar curve r=eθ ?

1 Answer
Sep 7, 2014

If θ goes from θ1 to θ2, then the arc length is 2(eθ2eθ1).

Let us look at some details.
L=θ2θ1r2+(drdθ)2dθ
since r=eθ and drdθ=eθ,
=θ2θ1(eθ)2+(eθ)2dθ
by pulling eθ out of the square-root,
=θ2θ1eθ2dθ=2θ2θ1eθdθ
by evaluating the integral,
=2[eθ]θ2θ1=2(eθ2eθ1)