Name: SARA KHAN DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS WOMEN UNIVERSITY MARDAN Assignment :

MMP

CYLINDRICAL COORDINATE SYSTEM

DEFINITION:

Cylindrical coordinates express the location of a point ‘p’ in 3-D space as a combination of
polar and cartesian coordinates. In cylindrical coordinates, a point ‘p’ in 3-D space is described by
(ƍ,Ɵ,z)Where

 (ƍ, Ɵ) is the polar representation of a point in xy plane.

 ƍ is the directed distance from the origin in the xy-plane.
 Ɵ is the angle counter clockwise from the pole or positive x-axisin the xy-plane.
 Z is the directed distance up or down from (ƍ, Ɵ) to the point

EXPLANTION:

A cylindrical coordinate system is a three-dimensional coordinate system that specifies point

positions by the distance from a chosen reference axis, the direction from
the axis relative to a chosen reference direction, and the distance from a chosen reference plane
perpendicular to the axis. The latter distance is given as a positive or
negative number depending on which side of the reference plane faces the point.
The origin of the system is the point where all three coordinates can be given as zero. This is the
intersection between the reference plane and the axis. The axis is
variously called the cylindrical or longitudinal axis, to differentiate it from the polar axis, which is the ray
that lies in the reference plane, starting at the origin and pointing
in the reference direction. Other directions perpendicular to the longitudinal axis are called radial lines.
The distance from the axis may be called the radial distance or radius, while the angular coordinate is
sometimes referred to as the angular position or as the
azimuth.The radius and the azimuth are together called the polar coordinates, as they correspond to a
two-dimensional polar coordinate system in the plane through the
point, parallel to the reference plane. The third coordinate may be called the height or altitude (if the
reference plane is considered horizontal), longitudinal position,[1] or
axial position.[2]
Cylindrical coordinates are useful in connection with objects and phenomena that have some rotational
symmetry about the longitudinal axis, such as water flow in a
straight pipe with round cross-section, heat distribution in a metal cylinder, electromagnetic fields
produced by an electric current in a long, straight wire, accretion disks in
astronomy, and so on.
They are sometimes called "cylindrical polar coordinates"[3] and "polar cylindrical coordinates",[4] and
are sometimes used to specify the position of stars in a galaxy
("galactocentric cylindrical polar coordinates").

TRANSFORMATION EQUATIONS:

 Cylindrical to Cartesian :

Lets us consider we have a cylinder present in (x,y,z) plane. ƍ is the radius of the cylinder. RQ is the
length parallel to z-axis and the radius makes an angle Ɵ with x-axis as shown in figure. OT is the length
along x-axis and OP is the length along y-axis.

So from ∆TOQ

x
Cos Ɵ = so x = ƍ cos Ɵ
ƍ

y
Sin Ɵ = so y = ƍ sin Ɵ
ƍ

And Z=Z

Costant coordinate surfaces:

Constant coordinate surfaces in cylindrical coordinate system can be genertated as follows:

ƍ = constant

Ɵ = constant
Z = constant

a)ƍ = constant (r =r o ¿ is a circular cylinder,

The coordinate ρ measures the distance from the -axis to the point . Its value ranges
from
zP
0 ≤ < ρ ∞ . In Figure B.2.1 we draw a few contours that have constant values of ρ .
These “level contours” are circles. On the other hand, if z were not restricted to z = zP ,
as in Figure B.2.1, the level surfaces for constant values of ρ would be cylinders coaxial
with the z-axis.

b)Ɵ = constant (θ=θ0) is a semi infinite plane with its edge along z-axis,

second coordinate measures an angular distance along the circle. We need to choose
some reference point to define the angular coordinate. We choose a “reference ray,” a
horizontal ray starting from the origin and extending to +∞ along the horizontal
direction to the right.

c) Z = constant ( z = z o) is an infinite plane as in the rectangular system.

DIFFERENTIAL ELEMENTS IN CYLINDRICAL COORDINATE SYSTEM:

 Infinitesimal Line Element
Consider a small infinitesimal displacement d s G between two points P1 and P2. This vector can

be decomposed into
 Infinitesimal Volume Element
An infinitesimal volume element is given by

dv=ƍdƍdƟdz

EXAMPLE: VOLUME OF CYLINDER:

 ρ 2π l
V = ∫ dρ ∫ dθ ∫ dz
0 0 0

V = ( ρ2/2)(2 π )(L)

V = π ρ2 l

UNIT VETORS IN CYLINDICAL COORDINATES:

The unit vectors e ρ ,e θ , and k expressed in Cartesian coordinates are;

e ρ = cos θ i + sinθ j

e θ = - sin θ I + cos θ j

POSITION VECTOR:

We will have many uses for the path increment dr expressed in cylindrical coordinates:

SPHERICAL COORDINATE SYSTEM

DEFINITION:

Spherical coordinates express the location of a point p in 3-d space in terms of ( r , θ , ∅ )

where

 r is the radius of the sphere centered at the origin(the magnitude of position vector r) .
  θ is the polar angle. The same polar angle as we used in polar and cylindrical coordinates(the
angle down from z-axis).
 ∅ is the angle of declination ,the angle from the north pole similar to the latitude of the
earth(the angle around from the z-axis ,also known as azimuthal angle).

EXPLANATION:

Like cylindrical coordinates, spherical coordinates can be viewed as a 3D extension of polar coordinates.
In this case, the third parameter is another angle, φ, measured from the ‘north pole’, and r refers to
the total distance of the point from the origin, not the distance in one plane. The earth’s lines of
latitude and longitude are a familiar system of spherical coordinates. Longitude is the θ, spanning 360
degrees or 2π radians, latitude is the φ, spanning 180 degrees or π radians, and we don’t usually bother
about the r, since that is assumed to be radius of the earth. The other difference is that spherical
coordinate systems in mathematics usually use colatitude, measured from the north pole, rather than
latitude, measured from the equator. This means that φ spans 0-π rather than –π / 2-π / 2

TRANSFORMATION EQUATION:

 Spherical to Cartesian:

If you are given spherical coordinates (r, θ ,φ) of a point in the plane, the Cartesian
coordinates (x, y , z ) can be determined from the coordinate transformations

Conversely, if you are given the Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z) , the spherical coordinates
(r, θ ,φ) can be determined from the coordinate transformations
These results can be understood by considering the projection of(rˆ, θˆ) into the unit
vectors(ρˆ, kˆ ) , where ρ is the unit vector from cylindrical coordinates (Figure 2),

figure 2:cylindrical and spherical unit vectors

DIFFERENTIAL ELEMENTS IN SPHERICAL COORDINATE SYSTEM:

 Infinitesimal Line Element;

Consider a small infinitesimal displacement d s between two points (Figure B.3.3). This
vector can be decomposed into
  Infinitesimal Area Element
Consider an infinitesimal area element on the surface of a sphere of radius (Figure)

The area of this element has magnitude

d A = ( r d θ )(r sin θ d φ ) = r 2 sin θ d θ d φ

points in the radially direction (outward from the surface of the sphere). So for the surface of the
sphere is

 Infinitesimal Volume Element

An infinitesimal volume element (Figure B.3.5) is given by

d V = r 2 sin θ d θ d φ d r
CONSTANT COORDINATE SURFACES IN SPHERICAL COORDINATE SYSTEM:

Constant coordinate surfaces in spherical coordinate system can be generated as

r = constant

θ = constant

φ =constant

 r =r o constant is a sphere with its centre as origin

 θ = θo constant is a circular cone with z-axis as its axis and origin at the vertex.
 φ = φ oconstant is a semi infinite plane as in cylindrical system.

EXAMPLE: Find the volume of sphere of radius R.

Solution:

Unit Vectors;
The unit vectors in the spherical coordinate system are functions of position. It is convenient to express them in
terms of
the spherical coordinates and the unit vectors of the rectangular coordinate system which are not themselves
functions of
position.

POSITION VECTOR:
We will have many uses for the path increment dr expressed in spherical coordinates:

Note;don’t get confused with the notations ,,…(the interchangance of ρ with r)