Spherical coordinates

[Guest skiddy]

I am looking at spherical coordinates within a modelling package,

i am concentrating on drawing curves from equations.

 

The equation i have produced is:

 

Rho=5+1*sin(90*theta*10)

Theta=360*t

Phi=100*sin(10*theta*10)

 

Which produces a kind of a 'lemon squeezer' form.

 

But can anyone please explain the equation to me? How it is plotted, what controls what etc?

 

Is it possible to plot this using a maths calculator? And are any free to download which would be suitable?

 

Would this equation be possible to plot by hand? If so, where would be my starting point?

 

does anyone know of any other 3d curves in space that can be written parametrically?

Many thanks

[Dave]

From what I gather, these are very similar to polar co-ordinates. They have an angle between the x and y axes (theta), a distance to the point (rho, I use r myself) and another angle between the xy plane and the elevation of the point in question (phi). You can specify any 3d point in space like this.

[Dave]

Also, moved this to geometry because it's more suitable there.