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Coordinate Systems

I.Nelson
AP,ECE
SSN College of Engineering
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Outline
• Rectangular coordinate system

• Cylindrical coordinate system

• Spherical coordinate system

• Conversion of coordinate systems

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Rectangular Coordinate System

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Rectangular Coordinate(RC) System

• The vector in the
RC system is
   
A  Ax a x  Ay a y  Az a z
𝑨
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Rectangular Coordinate(RC) System

• The differential length
vector 𝑑𝑙 is expressed as
𝑑𝑟 = 𝑟 + 𝑑𝑟 − 𝑟

Therefore,
𝑑𝑟 = dx𝑎𝑥 + 𝑑𝑦𝑎𝑦 + dz𝑎𝑧
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Rectangular Coordinate(RC) System

• The figure illustrates infinitesimal 𝒂𝒛
rectangular box

• The differential areas are

𝒂𝒚
𝑑𝑠𝑥 = 𝑑𝑦𝑑𝑧 𝑎𝑥
𝑑𝑠𝑦 = 𝑑𝑧𝑑𝑥 𝑎𝑦
𝒂𝒙
𝑑𝑠𝑧 = 𝑑𝑥𝑑𝑦 𝑎𝑧

• The differential volume is

𝑑𝑣 = 𝑑𝑥𝑑𝑦𝑑𝑧
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Cylindrical Coordinate System

Cylindrical Coordinate System
consist of
1. Cylinder
2. Plane perpendicular to xy-
plane
3. Plane Parallel to xy-plane.
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Cylindrical Coordinate System

• Applications
1. Derivation of field equations of Optical fibers.
2. Derivation of capacitance of Biconical antenna

Optical fiber Biconical Antenna

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Cylindrical Coordinate System

• The parameters of cylindrical coordinate system are 𝜌, ∅
and 𝑧.

• 𝜌 is the radial distance from the 𝑧-axis, with

0 ≤ 𝜌 ≤ ∞.

• ∅ is the azimuth angle in the 𝑥𝑦-plane, with

0 ≤ ∅ ≤ 2𝜋

• −∞ ≤ 𝑧 ≤ ∞
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Cylindrical Coordinate System

• From the diagram,
x = 𝜌 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅
y = 𝜌 𝑠𝑖𝑛∅
z=𝑧
𝜌= 𝑥2 + 𝑦2
−1 𝑦
∅= tan
𝑥
• Any vector 𝐴 can be expressed
in terms of the cylindrical
coordinate system unit vectors
𝑎𝜌 , 𝑎∅ and 𝑎𝑧
𝐴 = 𝐴𝜌 𝑎𝜌 + 𝐴∅ 𝑎∅ + 𝐴𝑧 𝑎𝑧
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Cylindrical Coordinate System

The position vector 𝑟 is expressed as
𝑟 = 𝑥 𝑎𝑥 + 𝑦𝑎𝑦 + 𝑧𝑎𝑧

• The position vector 𝑟 in terms of 𝜌, ∅ and 𝑧 is expressed as

𝑟 = 𝜌 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ 𝑎𝑥 + 𝜌 𝑠𝑖𝑛∅ 𝑎𝑦 + 𝑧 𝑎𝑧

• The unit vectors 𝑎𝜌 , 𝑎∅ and 𝑎𝑧 are expressed as

𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑟
𝜕𝜌 𝜕∅ 𝜕𝑧
𝑎𝜌 = 𝜕𝑟
𝑎∅ = 𝜕𝑟
and 𝑎𝑧 = 𝜕𝑟
𝜕𝜌 𝜕∅ 𝜕𝑧
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Cylindrical Coordinate System

• The unit vectors in cylindrical coordinate system are given by
𝑎𝜌 = cos ∅ 𝑎𝑥 + sin ∅𝑎𝑦
𝑎∅ = − sin ∅𝑎𝑥 + cos ∅𝑎𝑦
𝑎𝑧 = 𝑎𝑧

• The unit vectors satisfy following cyclic properties

𝑎𝜌 × 𝑎∅ = 𝑎𝑧
𝑎∅ × 𝑎𝑧 = 𝑎𝜌
𝑎𝑧 × 𝑎𝜌 = 𝑎∅
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Cylindrical Coordinate System

• Another method 𝒂𝝆 ∙ 𝒂𝒙 = 𝒄𝒐𝒔 ∅
𝒂𝝆 ∙ 𝒂𝒚 = 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝟗𝟎° − ∅ = 𝒔𝒊𝒏 ∅

𝒂∅ ∙ 𝒂𝒙 = −𝒔𝒊𝒏 ∅

𝒂∅ ∙ 𝒂𝒙 = 𝒄𝒐𝒔 ∅
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Cylindrical Coordinate System

• The differential length vector 𝑑𝑟 is expressed as
𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑟
𝑑𝑟 = 𝑑𝜌 + 𝑑∅ + 𝑑𝑧
𝜕𝜌 𝜕∅ 𝜕𝑧

𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑟
we know that , = 𝑎𝜌 , = 𝑎∅ and = 𝑎𝑧
𝜕𝜌 𝜕∅ 𝜕𝑧

Hence,
𝑑𝑟 = 𝑑𝜌 𝑎𝜌 + 𝑑∅ 𝑎∅ + 𝑑𝑧𝑎𝑍
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Cylindrical Coordinate System

• The differential areas
𝑑𝑠𝜌 = 𝜌𝑑∅𝑑𝑧 𝜌 𝒂𝒛
𝒂∅
𝑑𝑠𝜌 = 𝑑𝜌𝑑𝑧 ∅
𝑑𝑠𝑧 = 𝜌𝑑∅𝑑𝜌 𝑧 𝒂𝝆

• The differential volume

𝑑𝑣 = 𝜌𝑑𝜌𝑑∅𝑑𝑧
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Spherical Coordinate System

• It has sphere, cone
and a plane
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Spherical Coordinate System

• Applications
1. GPS
2. Calculation of radiation pattern of antenna
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Spherical Coordinate System

• The spherical coordinates 𝑟, 𝜃, ∅
are related to rectangular
coordinates 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧
𝑥 = 𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅
𝑦 = 𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑠𝑖𝑛∅
𝑧 = 𝑟 cos 𝜃
𝑟= 𝑥2 + 𝑦2 + 𝑧2
−1 𝑦
∅= tan
𝑥
𝑥 2 + 𝑦2
𝜃 = tan−1
𝑧
where r is the distance from the origin, 𝜃 is the polar angle
and ∅ is the azimuth angle
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Spherical Coordinate System

• The position vector 𝑟 in terms of 𝑟, 𝜃, ∅
𝑟 = 𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑐𝑜𝑠∅𝑎𝑥 + 𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑠𝑖𝑛∅𝑎𝑦 + 𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝑎𝑥
where their range are given by
0≤𝑟<∞
0≤𝜃≤𝜋
0 ≤ ∅ < 2𝜋
• Any vector 𝐴 in spherical coordinates 𝑟, 𝜃, ∅ is expressed
as
𝐴 = 𝐴𝑟 𝑎𝑟 + 𝐴𝜃 𝑎𝜃 + 𝐴∅ 𝑎∅
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Spherical Coordinate System

• The unit vectors 𝑎𝑟 , 𝑎𝜃 , 𝑎∅ in term of 𝑎𝑥 , 𝑎𝑦 , 𝑎𝑦 is
expressed as
𝑎𝑟 = 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ 𝑎𝑥 + 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑠𝑖𝑛∅ 𝑎𝑦 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝑎𝑧
𝑎𝜃 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ 𝑎𝑥 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝑠𝑖𝑛∅ 𝑎𝑦 − 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑎𝑧
𝑎∅ = −𝑠𝑖𝑛∅ 𝑎𝑥 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ 𝑎𝑦
• The unit vectors satisfy following cyclic properties
𝑎𝑟 × 𝑎𝜃 = 𝑎∅
𝑎𝜃 × 𝑎∅ = 𝑎𝑟
𝑎∅ × 𝑎𝑟 = 𝑎𝜃
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Spherical Coordinate System

• The differential length vector 𝑑𝑟 is expressed as

𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑟
𝑑𝑟 = 𝑑𝑟 + 𝑑𝜃 + 𝑑∅
𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝜃 𝜕∅
𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝑟
we know that = 𝑎𝑟 , = 𝑟𝑎𝜃 and = r sinθ𝑎∅
𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝜃 𝜕∅

• The differential length vector is

𝑑𝑟 = 𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑟 + 𝑟𝑑𝜃𝑎𝜃 + 𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑑∅𝑎∅

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Spherical Coordinate System

• From the figure, the differential areas
are 𝒂𝒓 𝒂∅
𝑑𝑠 𝑟 = 𝑟 2 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑑𝜃𝑑∅𝑎𝑟
𝑑𝑠 𝜃 = 𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑑𝑟𝑑∅𝑎𝜃
𝑑𝑠 ∅ = 𝑟𝑑𝑟𝑑𝜃𝑎∅ 𝒂𝜽

• The differential volume is

𝑑𝑣 = 𝑟 2 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑑𝑟 𝑑𝜃𝑑∅
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Conversion of coordinate systems

• Cylindrical to Rectangular coordinate systems
Let 𝐴𝐶𝐶 and 𝐴𝑅𝐶 be the component of cylindrical and rectangular
coordinates system respectively.
𝐴𝐶𝐶 = ∆ 𝐴𝑅𝐶
where ∆ is the transformation matrix
𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ 𝑠𝑖𝑛∅ 0
∆= −𝑠𝑖𝑛∅ 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ 0
0 0 1
The components of rectangular coordinate system is
𝐴𝑅𝐶 = ∆−1 𝐴𝑅𝐶 = ∆𝑇 𝐴𝑅𝐶
where ∆ is an orthogonal matrix
𝐴𝑥 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ −𝑠𝑖𝑛∅ 0 𝐴𝜌
𝐴𝑦 = 𝑠𝑖𝑛∅ 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ 0 𝐴∅
𝐴𝑧 0 0 1 𝐴𝑧
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Conversion of coordinate systems

• Cylindrical to Spherical coordinate system
𝐴𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 0 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝐴𝜌
𝐴𝜃 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 0 −𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝐴∅
𝐴∅ 0 1 0 𝐴𝑧

• Spherical to rectangular coordinate system

𝐴𝑥 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ −𝑠𝑖𝑛∅ 𝐴𝜌
𝐴𝑦 = 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑠𝑖𝑛∅ 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝑠𝑖𝑛∅ 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ 𝐴∅
𝐴𝑧 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 −𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 0 𝐴𝑧
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Conversion of coordinate systems

• Spherical to cylindrical coordinate system

𝐴𝜌 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 0 𝐴𝑟
𝐴∅ = 0 0 1 𝐴𝜃
𝐴𝑧 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 −𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 0 𝐴∅
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Exercise
1. Given a point 𝑃(3, −4,3) and vector 𝐴 = 2𝑎𝑥 − 3𝑎𝑦 + 4𝑎𝑧 in
rectangular coordinate system. Express 𝑃 and 𝐴 in cylindrical
coordinate system.
2. Transform the vector 𝐴 = 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝜃𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ 𝑎𝑟 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 ∅ 𝑎𝜃 −
𝑠𝑖𝑛∅ 𝑎𝜃 into cylindrical coordinate and then evaluate it at
𝜋 𝜋
𝑃(2, , ).
2 2
3. Transform the following vectors into spherical coordinates
𝑦2 𝑥2
(i) 𝐶= 𝑎 − 2 2 𝑎𝑦 + 4𝑎𝑧 at 𝑃(1, −1,2)
𝑥 2 +𝑦 2 𝑥 𝑥 +𝑦
𝜋
(ii) ) 𝐷 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ 𝑎𝜌 − 𝑠𝑖𝑛∅ 𝑎∅ + 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ 𝑠𝑖𝑛∅ 𝑎𝑧 at 𝑃(2, , 2)
4
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Summary

• Depending of type of problem, a vector can be represented in

Rectangular, Cylindrical and Spherical coordinate systems

• A vector in a given coordinate system can be expressed in

other coordinate systems