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1 Cylindrical and Spherical Coordinates

Cylindrical and spherical coordinates are used to represent points in 3D space. [1] Cylindrical coordinates (r, θ, z) represent the projection of a point P onto the xy-plane using polar coordinates (r, θ) and the z-distance. [2] Spherical coordinates (ρ, θ, φ) represent the distance from the origin ρ, the azimuthal angle θ, and the polar angle φ. [3] These coordinate systems allow volume integrals to be evaluated by making the limits of integration explicit in terms of the coordinates.

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54 views4 pages

1 Cylindrical and Spherical Coordinates

Cylindrical and spherical coordinates are used to represent points in 3D space. [1] Cylindrical coordinates (r, θ, z) represent the projection of a point P onto the xy-plane using polar coordinates (r, θ) and the z-distance. [2] Spherical coordinates (ρ, θ, φ) represent the distance from the origin ρ, the azimuthal angle θ, and the polar angle φ. [3] These coordinate systems allow volume integrals to be evaluated by making the limits of integration explicit in terms of the coordinates.

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Kshitij
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Lecture 38

1 Cylindrical and Spherical coordinates


1.1 Cylindrical coordinates
A point P in the space (IR3 ) is represented by (r, θ, z) where r, θ are polar coordinates of the
projection of P on to xy-plane and z is the z distance of the projection from P . When we
take the transformation x = r cos θ, y = r sin θ, z = z, the Jacobian is

xr xθ xz cos θ −r sin θ 0

J = yr yθ yz = sin θ r cos θ 0 = r


zr zθ z z 0 0 1

Example 1.1.1 Find the volume of the cylinder x2 + (y − 1)2 = 1 bounded by z = x2 + y 2


and z = 0.

Figure 1: Volume bounded.

Solution: Drawing a line parallel to z axis, we see that the limits of z are from 0 to x2 + y 2
and the projection onto xy-plane is the disc:R : x2 + (y − 1)2 ≤ 1. Therefore,
ZZ Z x2 +y 2
V = dzdA
R z=0

Now taking the cylindrical coordinates x = r cos θ, y = r sin θ, z = z we get the projection to
be
r2 cos2 θ + r2 sin2 θ − 2r sin θ = 0

i.e., r(r − 2 sin θ) = 0 =⇒ r = 0 to r = 2 sin θ

1
Z π Z 2 sin θ Z r2
V = rdz dr dθ
θ=0 r=0 z=0
Z π Z 2 sin θ
= r3 dr dθ
θ=0 r=0
Z π
4 5π
=4 sin θdθ =
0 4

1.2 Spherical polar coordinates


A point P in the space is represented by (ρ, θ, φ) where ρ is the distance of P from the
origin, φ is the angle made by the ray OP with positive z axis and θ is the angle made by
the projection of P (onto xy-plane) with positive x-axis. So it is not difficult to see that the
relation with cartesian coordinates: The projection of P on xy-plane has polar representation:
x = r cos θ, y = r sin θ where r is the distance of the projected point to origin. Therefore
r = ρ sin φ. From the definition of φ it is easy to see that z = ρ cos φ and

x = ρ sin φ cos θ, y = ρ sin φ sin θ, z = ρ cos φ

The Jacobian in this case is



xρ xθ xφ ρ sin φ cos θ −ρ sin φ sin θ ρ cos φ cos θ

J = yρ yθ yφ = ρ sin φ sin θ r cos θ sin φ 0 = ρ2 sin φ


z ρ zθ zφ cos φ 0 −ρ sin φ

To find limits of integration in spherical coordinates,

1. Draw a ray from the origin to find the surfaces ρ = g(θ, φ), ρ = g2 (θ, φ) where it enters
the region and leaves the region.

2. Rotate this ray away and towards z-axis to find the limits of φ

3. Identify the projection R of the domain on the xy-plane and polar form of R to write
the limits of θ.
ZZZ
dV
Example 1.2.1 Evaluate p where Ω is the unit ball x2 + y 2 + z 2 ≤ 1.
Ω 2
1+x +y +z2 2

Solution: Going to spherical polar coordinates x = ρ sin φ cos θ, y = ρ sin φ sin θ, z = ρ cos φ,
we get
Z 1 Z 2π Z π
ρ2
I= p sin φ dφ dθ dρ
ρ=0 θ=0 φ=0 1 + ρ2
Z 1
ρ2 √ 1 √
=(2π × 2) p dρ = 4π( 2 − ln( 2 + 1)).
0 1 + ρ2 2
ZZZ
Example 1.2.2 Evaluate I = xdV where Ω is the part of the ball x2 + y 2 + z 2 ≤ 4 in
Ω
the first octant.

2
Solution: Going to cylindrical coordinates, x = ρ sin φ cos θ, y = ρ sin φ sin θ, z = ρ cos φ.
Since the domain is the ball of radius 4, we see that the limits of ρ are from 0 to 2. Again
since it is cut by the xy-plane below, φ varies from 0 to π/2. The projection is the circle in
the first quadrant with radius 2. So θ varies from 0 to π/2. Hence,
Z 2 Z π/2 Z π/2
I= ρ sin φ cos θ (ρ2 sin φ) dρ dθ dφ
ρ=0 θ=0 φ=0
Z π/2 Z π/2
=4 sin2 φ cos θdφ dθ = π
θ=0 φ=0

Volume of solids of revolution: Consider a function f (x) ≥ 0, a ≤ x ≤ b and revolve it


around x-axis. Then the region can be represented as
p
R = {(x, y, z) : a ≤ x ≤ b, y 2 + z 2 ≤ f (x)}

Taking the cylindrical coordinates x = x, y = r sin θ, z = r cos θ, we get

R = {(x, r, θ) : a ≤ x ≤ b, 0 ≤ r ≤ f (x), 0 ≤ θ ≤ 2π}

Therefore, the voloume is


Z bZ 2π Z f (x)
V = rdrdθdx
a 0 0
b Z b
[f (x)]2
Z
= 2π =π (f (x))2 dx
a 2 a

Parametrizations of Surfaces: Let

r(u, v) = f (u, v)î + g(u, v)ĵ + h(u, v)k̂

be a continuous vector function defined on a plane region R. The variable u and v are pa-
rameters and R is the parameter domain. The range of r is called the surface S. We assume
that r is one-to-one on the interior of R so that S does not cross itself.

Examples 1.2.3 1. A parametrization of the cone


p
z = x2 + y 2 , 0 ≤ z ≤ 1

Here cylindrical coordinates provide everything we need. Let


p
x(r, θ) = r cos θ, y(r, θ) = r sin θ z = x2 + y 2 = r

the domain of r, θ is 0 ≤ r ≤ 1 and 0 ≤ θ ≤ 2π. So the required parametrization is

r(r, θ) = r cos θ î + r sin θ ĵ + r k̂, 0 ≤ r ≤ 1, 0 ≤ θ ≤ 2π.

3
2. A parametrization of sphere
x2 + y 2 + z 2 = a2

Here we take spherical coordinates. Let x = a sin φ cos θ, y = a sin φ sin θ, and z =
a cos φ, 0 ≤ φ ≤ π, 0 ≤ θ ≤ 2π. Taking u = φ and v = θ, we get

r(θ, φ) = a sin φ cos θ î + a sin φ sin θ ĵ + a cos φ k̂, 0 ≤ φ ≤ π, 0 ≤ θ ≤ 2π.

3. A parametrization of cylinder x2 + (y − 3)2 = 9, 0 ≤ z ≤ 5


we take cylindrical coordinates,

x(r, θ) = r cos θ, y(r, θ) = r sin θ z = z

Substituting in x2 + (y − 3)2 = 9 we get r2 + 6r cos θ = 0. Therefore, r = 6 sin θ.

r(θ, z) = 3 sin 2θ î + 6 sin2 θ ĵ + z k̂, 0 ≤ θπ, 0 ≤ z ≤ 5

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