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Usually, phasors are represented by Acos(ωt + φ) where φ is the phase angle. Using this convention, we need to convert sin(ωt) into cos(ωt - 90) to get its phase angle like this thumbnail on a YouTube video.

But in EE, the AC sources are usually sinusoids and back when I first studied about phasors in physics, they were introduced as Asin(ωt + φ) with φ being the phase angle.

What is the correct way to represent sine waves (say 120sin(120πt)) in polar form?

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    \$\begingroup\$ I don't see that there is a best way; either or one might be more applicable to a particular problem. \$\endgroup\$
    – Andy aka
    Commented Jun 5, 2021 at 10:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ So there is no particular "convention"? \$\endgroup\$
    – Elrond
    Commented Jun 5, 2021 at 10:43
  • \$\begingroup\$ There might be for some applications but you mention no applications. \$\endgroup\$
    – Andy aka
    Commented Jun 5, 2021 at 10:53
  • \$\begingroup\$ Say V = 120sin(120πt) Volts then according to EE convention it should be 120, angle(-90 degrees) ? \$\endgroup\$
    – Elrond
    Commented Jun 5, 2021 at 10:55
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    \$\begingroup\$ There is no one, common convention. So even in the above comment example, it is ambiguous. To avoid ambiguity, always specify the reference phasor at the beginning itself. \$\endgroup\$
    – AJN
    Commented Jun 5, 2021 at 11:11

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All that matters is the phase difference. There is no absolute phase angle. It's just like voltage -- it's always measured relative to something you pick as a reference.

But in EE, the AC sources are usually sinusoids and back when I first studied about phasors in Physics, they were introduced as Asin(wt + phi) with phi being the phase angle.

They were just saying that sin(wt+phi) has a phase angle of phi with respect to sin(wt).

It's ok to represent sinusoid waveforms with either sin() or cos(). When speaking of phase angle just pick a a form that represents a phase angle of 0 and stick to it.

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