R: Converting cartesian coordinates to polar coordinates, and then calculating distance from origin

Question

I\'ve been looking for a solution to convert cartesian coordinates (lat, long) that I have to polar coordinates in order to facilitate a simulation that I want to run, but I hav

Answer 1

I think this code I wrote converts to polar coordinates:

# example data
x<-runif(30)
y<-runif(30)
# center example around 0
x<-x-mean(x)
y<-y-mean(y)

# function to convert to polar coordinates
topolar<-function(x,y){

    # calculate angles 
    alphas<-atan(y/x)

    # correct angles per quadrant
    quad2<-which(x<0&y>0)
    quad3<-which(x<0&y<0)
    quad4<-which(x>0&y<0)
    alphas[quad2]<-alphas[quad2]+pi
    alphas[quad3]<-alphas[quad3]+pi
    alphas[quad4]<-alphas[quad4]+2*pi

    # calculate distances to 0,0
    r<-sqrt(x^2+y^2)

    # create output
    polar<-data.frame(alphas=alphas,r=r)

}

# call function
polar_out<-topolar(x,y)
# get out angles
the_angles<-polar_out$alphas