Tutorial Sheet 01 (03.08.

2015)
PH202: ELECTROMAGNETICS AND OPTICS
IMPORTANT:
Problem number 4 and 8 are given as assignment problems. Students are instructed to
solve and submit these problems during the classes on August 10 and August 11.
Question-1:
a) What will be the equation of the circle of radius 2 centered at the origin in polar
coordinates?
b) A point is defined in polar coordinates as (- 4, 2/3). What will be the corresponding
coordinates in Cartesian system?
c) What will be the equation of the line y = 2x + 5 in polar coordinates i.e. in r, terms.
d) In polar coordinates one curve is defined as r = . Draw the curve in x, y coordinate
system and r, coordinate system. What will be the corresponding equation in x, y
coordinate system?
Question 2:
a) In Cartesian coordinate system a point is defined as (1/2, 3/2, 5). Convert this into
cylindrical coordinates.
b) What will be the equation in cylindrical coordinates of the cone defined in Cartesian
coordinate as x2 +y2 = z2.
c) Find the equation in cylindrical coordinates for the ellipsoid defined by 4x2 + 4y2 + z2
= 1.
Question 3:
a) Convert (-1, 1, -2) into spherical coordinates from Cartesian coordinates.
b) Find the corresponding equation in the Cartesian co-ordinate for r = 5. Identify the
nature of the surface.

Question 4:
On a hot day, the refractive index variation near the surface of the road can be defined by the
following equation:

n n0 n1 1 e x

Determine (a) the gradient of n (b) if = 1/m then what will be the gradient at x = 5 m (c)
find the constant refractive index surface. Consider x axis perpendicular to the Earth surface.
Question 5:
Consider the function f cos
Calculate the gradient in spherical polar co-ordinates and in Cartesian co-ordinates, hence
evaluate .x , .y , and .z . All these individual parameters having cap sign represent unit
vectors for , x, y, z.
Question 6:
Using the cylindrical system of coordinates the following function is defined as

F s 2 s 2 2 x 2 y 2

Calculate F and obtain values for s.x , s.y , and s.z . All these individual parameters having
cap sign represent unit vectors for s, x, y, z.
Question 7:
Find the gradient of
i) f x, y, z x3 y 4 z 3 at the point (1,-2,-1)
ii) f x, y, z exp x sin y ln z
Question 8:
The height of a certain hill (in meter) is given by the equation

h x, y 10 12 28 y 2 xy 3x 2 4 y 2 18x

where y is the distance (in km) north, and x is the distance east of Nainital.
i) Where is the top of the hill located?
ii) How high is the hill?
iii) How steep is the slope (in meter/km) at a point 1 km North and 1 km East of Nainital? In
what direction is the slope steepest, at that point?

Question 9:

Let represents the separation vector from a fixed point x / , y / , z / to the point x, y, z and
if be its length, show that

i) 2 2

ii) 2

Question 10:
Obtain the divergence of the following:

i) va x 2 x 3x z 2 y 2 x z z

ii) vb x y x 2 y zy 3x z z

iii) vc y 2 x 2 x y z 2 y 2 y z z

r
iv) v 2 and offer comment on the result.
r
Question 11:
Calculate the curls of the following:

i) va x 2 x 3x z 2 y 2 x z z

ii) vb x y x 2 y zy 3x z z

iii) vc y 2 x 2 x y z 2 y 2 y z z

Question 12:

i) Show that . 2

1
ii) Obtain 2
r

iii) Prove that Divergence of Curl of a vector function is always zero.