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Cylindrical Coordinates
Very convenient when dealing with problems having
cylindrical symmetry.
Cylindrical Symmetry?
In cylindrical symmetry, there is only one axis of rotation,
and it is always vertical. Cylindrical symmetry is commonly
found in towers, columns, and domes.



Cylindrical Coordinates
A point P in cylindrical coordinates is represented as
(, , z) where
: is the radius of the cylinder; radial
displacement from the z-axis
: azimuthal angle or the angular displacement
from x-axis
z : vertical displacement z from the origin (as in
the cartesian system).

2
3

a
|
a
z
a
Cylindrical Coordinates
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Cylindrical Coordinates
The range of the variables are
0 < , 0 < 2 , - < z <

vector in cylindrical coordinates can be
written as (A

,A

, A
z
) or A

a

+ A

+ A
z
a
z

The magnitude of is

2 2 2
| |
z
A A A A + + =
|

5

The unit vectors are mutually perpendicular










I
2 2 2
| |
) , , (
z
z z z
A A A A
a A a A a A A A A A
+ + =
+ + = =

a a a
a a a
a a a
a a a a a a
a a a a a a
z
z
z
z z
z z





=
=
=
= = =
= = =
0
1
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Relationships Between
Variables
The relationships between the variables (x,y,z) of the
Cartesian coordinate system and the cylindrical system
(, , z) are obtained as




So a point P (3, 4, 5) in Cartesian coordinate is the
same as?

z z
x y
y x
=
=
+ =

/ tan
1
2 2
|

z z
y
x
=
=
=
|
|
sin
cos
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Relationships Between
Variables






So a point P (3, 4, 5) in Cartesian coordinate is the
same as P ( 5, 0.927,5) in cylindrical coordinate)

5
927 . 0 3 / 4 tan
5 4 3
1
2 2
=
= =
= + =

z
rad |

Applications
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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, and so on.
It is sometimes called "cylindrical polar coordinate" and
"polar cylindrical coordinate", and is sometimes used to
specify the position of stars in a galaxy ("galactocentric
cylindrical polar coordinate").
Graphical
Representation
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Spherical Coordinates
(
The spherical coordinate system is used
dealing with problems having a degree of
spherical symmetry.

Point P represented as (r,,) where
r : the distance from the origin,
: called the colatitude is the angle between z-axis
and vector of P,
: azimuthal angle or the angular displacement
from x-axis (the same azimuthal angle in
cylindrical coordinates).
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Spherical Coordinates
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The range of the variables are
0 r < , 0 < , 0 < < 2

A vector A in spherical coordinates written as
(A
r
,A

,A

) or A
r
a
r
+ A

+ A

a


The magnitude of A is


2 2 2
| |
u |
A A A A
r
+ + =

Spherical Coordinates
(r,,)
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Relation to Cartesian
coordinates system
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Relationship between cylinder
and spherical coordinate
system
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Point transformation between cylinder and spherical
coordinate is given by




or



Point transformation
2 2
z r + =
z

u
1
tan

=
| | =
u sin r =
u cos r z = | | =

Applications
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The geographic coordinate system uses the
azimuth and elevation of the spherical
coordinate system to express locations on
Earth, calling them respectively longitude and
latitude.
Charge enclosed in a surface.
Constructing and Testing of some spheres like
football etc.
The geographic coordinate system uses the
azimuth and elevation of the spherical
coordinate system to express locations on Earth


Example
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Thank You
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