1.72 FAQ-199 How to plot a polar graph from x and y coordinates?

Last Update: 2/18/2019

If you have XY data in cartesian coordinate and want to plot them in the polar coordinate, you can follow the below steps to calculate the corresponding theta and radius data and plot a polar graph.

  1. Import the XY data into a new Origin worksheet as col(A) and col(B).
  2. Add two new columns as col(C) and col(D). Set the column designation as X and Y.
  1. Select col(C) and Right-click on it to open the context menu, and select Set Column Values. Enter the formula shown below in the Column Formula edit box of the Set Values dialog: 
    atan2(Col(B),Col(A))/pi*180
  2. Click the next column button Button Next Column.png to switch to col(D) and then enter the formula shown below in the Column Formula edit box of the Set Values dialog: 
    sqrt(Col(A)^2+Col(B)^2)
  3. Click OK to close the dialog. Highlight col(C) and col(D), choose Plot > Specialized: Polar theta(X) r(Y) from the main menu or click the Polar theta(X)r(Y) button on the 2D Graphs toolbar to plot a polar graph.

Keywords:X Y Coordinates, polar coordinate, theta, radius

Minimum Origin Version Required: 8.0 SR6
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