Electromagnetics Field Theory (EMT)

The Spherical
coordinate
system
Chapter 1 Vector Analysis

The Spherical Coordinate System

 Chapter 1 Vector Analysis

The Spherical Coordinate System

• Differential surface units:

dr  rd
dr  r sin  d
rd  r sin  d
• Differential volume unit :
dr  rd  r sin  d
 Chapter 1 Vector Analysis

The Spherical Coordinate System

• Relation between the rectangular and
the spherical coordinate systems

x  r sin  cos  r  x2  y 2  z 2 , r  0
z
y  r sin  sin    cos 1
, 0    180
x y z
2 2 2

y
z  r cos    tan 1

• Dot products of unit vectors in spherical and

rectangular coordinate systems
 Chapter 1 Vector Analysis

The Spherical Coordinate System

 Example
Given the two points, C(–3,2,1) and D(r = 5, θ = 20°, Φ = –70°),
find: (a) the spherical coordinates of C; (b) the rectangular
coordinates of D.

r  x 2  y 2  z 2  (3) 2  (2) 2  (1) 2  3.742

z 1
  cos 1
 cos 1
 74.50
x y z
2 2 2 3.742

y 2
  tan 1  tan 1  33.69  180  146.31
x 3
 C (r  3.742,   74.50,   146.31)

 D( x  0.585, y  1.607, z  4.698)