So I need to find the POI (point of intersection) of the following two curves: \begin{align*} r & = 1 + \cos \theta, \\ r & = 2 - 2\cos \theta. \end{align*} What I did was I just set both the equations equal to each other... $1 + \cos \theta = 2 - 2 \cos \theta$ then isolated for $\theta$ and found the angle, which is $70^\circ$... however I drew the two graphs (looks like both cardioids) and it looks like I have 2 POI's... so I'm not sure why I only get one angle when I solve for $\theta$?
Finding POI's for the follow two curves
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$\begingroup$
plane-curves
1 Answers
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Hint: The $\cos$ function is positive in the first and fourth quadrant and negative in the second and third quadrant. So when you take the inverse of $\cos$ you need to take the fourth quadrant angle into account to get the other angle.
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0@Nick Yup you got it. – 2012-06-10