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52 The Geometry of Euclidean Space

1.4 Cylindrical and Spherical Coordinates

A standard way to represent a point in the plane R2 is by means of rectangular coordinates
(x, y). However, as you have probably learned in elementary calculus, polar coordinates
in the plane can be extremely useful. As portrayed in Figure 1.4.1, the coordinates (r, θ )
are related to (x, y) by the formulas

x = r cos θ and y = r sin θ,

where we usually take r ≥ 0 and 0 ≤ θ < 2π .

( x , y)

r
figure 1.4.1 The polar coordinates of (x,y ) are (r , θ).
q
x

If you are not familiar with ploar coordinates, we advise you to study the relevant
section of their calculus texts. We now set forth two ways of representing points in
space other than by using rectangular Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z). These alternative
coordinate systems are particularly well suited for certain types of problems, such as
the evaluation of integrals using a change of variables.

In 1671, Isaac Newton wrote a manuscript entitled The Method of Fuxions and
Infinite Series, which contains many uses of coordinate geometry to sketch the
solutions of equations. In particular, he introduces the polar coordinate system,
among various other coordinate systems.
Historical Note In 1691, Jacob Bernoulli published a paper also containing polar coordinates.
Because Newton's manuscript was not published until after his death in 1727,
credit for the discovery of polar coordinates is usually attributed to Bernoulli.

Cylindrical Coordinates

Definition The cylindrical coordinates (r, θ, z) of a point (x, y, z) are defined

by (see Figure 1.4.2)

x = r cos θ, y = r sin θ, z = z. (1)

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1.4 Cylindrical and Spherical Coordinates 53

( x, y, z)

figure 1.4.2 Representing a point (x, y, z) in terms

z of its cylindrical coordinates r, θ, and z.

y
r
q
x

r=a
figure 1.4.3 The graph of the points whose cylindrical
coordinates satisfy r = a is a cylinder.

a
y

To express r, θ , and z in terms of x, y, and z, and to ensure that θ lies between 0 and
2π, we can write
⎧
⎪ −1
⎨tan ( y/x) if x > 0 and y ≥ 0
 −1
r = x +y ,
2 2 θ = π + tan ( y/x) if x < 0 z = z,
⎪
⎩2π + tan−1 ( y/x) if x > 0 and y < 0,

where tan−1 ( y/x) is taken to lie between −π/2 and π/2. The requirement that 0 ≤ θ <
2π uniquely determines θ and r ≥ 0 for a given x and y. If x = 0, then θ = π/2 for
y > 0 and 3π/2 for y < 0. If x = y = 0, θ is undefined.
In other words, for any point (x, y, z), we represent the first and second coordinates
in terms of polar coordinates and leave the third coordinate unchanged. Formula (1)
shows that, given (r, θ, z), the triple (x, y, z) is completely determined, and vice versa,
if we restrict θ to the interval [0, 2π ) (sometimes the range (−π, π ] is convenient) and
require that r > 0.
To see why we use the term cylindrical coordinates, note that if the conditions
0 ≤ θ < 2π, −∞ < z < ∞ hold and if r = a is some positive constant, then the
locus of these points is a cylinder of radius a (see Figure 1.4.3).

example 1 (a) Find and plot the cylindrical coordinates of (6, 6, 8). (b) If a point has cylindrical
coordinates (8, 2π/3, −3), what are its Cartesian coordinates? Plot.
√ √
solution For part (a), we have r = 62 + 62 = 6√ 2 and θ = tan−1 (6/6) = tan−1 (1) = π/4.
Thus, the cylindrical coordinates are (6 2, π/4, 8). This is point P in Figure 1.4.4.
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54 The Geometry of Euclidean Space

4
P (6, 6, 8)

2 −4
−2

p/6
2 2
4 4
p/4 −6 2 6
y
6 −3
Q(−4, 4 3, −3)
x

figure 1.4.4 Some examples of the conversion between

Cartesian and cylindrical coordinates.

For part (b), note that 2π/3 = π/2 + π/6 and compute

2π 8
x = r cos θ = 8 cos = − = −4
3 2

and
√
2π 3 √
y = r sin θ = 8 sin =8 = 4 3.
3 2
√
Thus, the Cartesian coordinates are (−4, 4 3, −3). This is point Q in the figure. ▲

Spherical Coordinates
Cylindrical coordinates are not the only possible generalization of polar coordinates to
three
 dimensions.
 Recall that in two dimensions the magnitude of the vector xi + yj
that is, x 2 + y 2 is the r in the polar coordinate system. For cylindrical coordinates,
the length of the vector xi + yj + zk, namely,


ρ= x 2 + y2 + z2,

 not one of the coordinates of that system—instead, we used the magnitude r =

is
x 2 + y 2 , the angle θ, and the “height” z.
We now modify this by introducing the spherical coordinate system, which does
use ρ as a coordinate. Spherical coordinates are often useful for problems that possess
spherical symmetry (symmetry about a point), whereas cylindrical coordinates can be
applied when cylindrical symmetry (symmetry about a line) is involved.
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1.4 Cylindrical and Spherical Coordinates 55

z
( x, y, z)
r
f z figure 1.4.5 Spherical coordinates (ρ, θ , φ);
the graph of points satisfying ρ = a is a
y
sphere.

q
r

Given a point (x, y, z) ∈ R3 , let


ρ= x 2 + y2 + z2

and represent x and y by polar coordinates in the x y plane:

x = r cos θ, y = r sin θ, (2)


where r = x 2 + y 2 and θ is determined by formula (1) [see the expression for θ
following formula (1)]. The coordinate z is given by

z = ρ cos φ,

where φ is the angle (chosen to lie between 0 and π , inclusive) that the radius vector
v = xi + yj + zk makes with the positive z axis, in the plane containing the vec-
tor v and the z axis (see Figure 1.4.5). Using the dot product, we can express φ as
follows:
 
v·k −1 v·k
cos φ = , that is, φ = cos .
v v

We take as our coordinates the quantities ρ, θ, φ. Because

r = ρ sin φ,

we can use formula (2) to find x, y, z in terms of the spherical coordinates ρ, θ, φ.

Definition The spherical coordinates of points (x, y, z) in space are the triples
(ρ, θ, φ), defined as follows:

x = ρ sin φ cos θ, y = ρ sin φ sin θ, z = ρ cos φ, (3)

where
ρ ≥ 0, 0 ≤ θ < 2π, 0 ≤ φ ≤ π.
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56 The Geometry of Euclidean Space

In 1773, Joseph Louis Lagrange was working on Newton's gravitational theory as

it applied to ellipsoids of revolution. In attempting to calculate the total
gravitational attraction of such an ellipsoid, he encountered an integral that was
Historical Note difficult to evaluate. Motivated by this application, he introduced spherical
coordinates, which allowed him to calculate the integral. We will be discussing
the method of changing coordinates as it applies to multiple integrals in Section
6.2, and applications to gravitation in Section 6.3, where we show how the inverse
square law of gravity allowed Newton to consider spherical masses as point
masses.
Spherical coordinates are also closely connected to navigation by latitude
and longitude. To see the connection, first note that the sphere of radius a
centered at the origin is described by a very simple equation in spherical
coordinates, namely, ρ = a . Fixing the radius a, the spherical coordinates θ and φ
are similar to the geographic coordinates of longitude and latitude if we take the
earth's axis to be the z axis. There are differences, though: The geographical
longitude is |θ| and is called east or west longitude, according to whether θ is a
positive or negative measure from the Greenwich meridian; the geographical
latitude is |π/2 − φ| and is called north or south latitude, according to whether
π/2 − φ is positive or negative.

example 2 (a) Find the spherical coordinates of the Cartesian point (1, −1, 1) and plot.
(b) Find the Cartesian coordinates of the spherical coordinate point (3, π/6, π/4) and
plot.
(c) Let a point have Cartesian coordinates (2, −3, 6). Find its spherical coordinates
and plot.
(d) Let a point have spherical coordinates (1, −π/2, π/4). Find its Cartesian
coordinates and plot.

 √ √
solution (a) ρ = x 2 + y 2 + z 2 = 12 + (−1) 2 + 12 = 3,
y  
−1 −1
−1 π 7π
θ = 2π + tan = 2π + tan = 2π − =
x 1 4 4
   
z 1
φ = cos−1 = cos−1 √ ≈ 0.955 ≈ 54.74◦ .
ρ 3
See Figure 1.4.6(a) and the formula for θ following formula (1).
π  π   √ √
1 3 3 3
(b) x = ρ sin φ cos θ = 3 sin cos =3 √ = √ ,
4 6 2 2 2 2
π  π    
1 1 3
y = ρ sin φ sin θ = 3 sin sin =3 √ = √ ,
4 6 2 2 2 2
π  √
3 3 2
z = ρ cos φ = 3 cos =√ = .
4 2 2
See Figure 1.4.6(b).
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1.4 Cylindrical and Spherical Coordinates 57

(a) z (b) z
p
f = _
4
(1, −1, 1) r = 3
f = 55
q =3

y y
7p /4
r_
p_ q =
− 6
x 4 x

figure 1.4.6 Finding (a) the spherical coordinates of the point (1, –1, 1),
and (b) the Cartesian coordinates of (3, π/6, π/4).

 √ √
(c) ρ = x 2 + y 2 + z 2 = 22 + (−3) 2 + 62 = 49 = 7,
y  
−1 −1
−3
θ = 2π + tan = 2π + tan ≈ 5.3004 radians ≈ 303.69◦ ,
x 2
   
−1
z −1
6
φ = cos = cos ≈ 0.541 ≈ 31.0◦ .
ρ 7
See Figure 1.4.7(a).
 π   √2 
π 
(d) x = ρ sin φ cos θ = 1 sin cos − = · 0 = 0,
4 2 2
 π   π   √2  √
2
y = ρ sin φ sin θ = 1 sin sin − = (−1) = − ,
4 2 2 2
 π  √2
z = ρ cos φ = 1 cos = .
4 2
See Figure 1.4.7(b).

(a) z (b) z

7
1
31 p
4

− p2
y y

−56
x x

figure 1.4.7 Finding (a) the spherical coordinates of the

point (2, −3, 6), and (b) the Cartesian coordinates of
(1, −π/2, π/4). ▲
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58 The Geometry of Euclidean Space

z
(a) (b) z
ez
figure 1.4.8 (a) Orthonormal eq er
vectors er , eθ , and ez associated eq
with cylindrical coordinates. The
f r
vector er is parallel to the line er ef
labeled r . (b) Orthonormal
y y
vectors eρ , eθ , and eφ associated
with spherical coordinates. r
q z q r
x
x

example 3 Express (a) the surface x z = 1 and (b) the surface x 2 + y 2 − z 2 = 1 in spherical
coordinates.

solution From formula (3), x = ρ sin φ cos θ, and z = ρ cos φ, and so the surface x z = 1 in
(a) consists of all (ρ, θ, φ) such that

ρ 2 sin φ cos θ cos φ = 1, that is, ρ 2 sin 2φ cos θ = 2.

For part (b), we can write

x 2 + y 2 − z 2 = x 2 + y 2 + z 2 − 2z 2 = ρ 2 − 2ρ 2 cos2 φ,

so that the surface is ρ 2 (1 − 2 cos2 φ) = 1; that is, −ρ 2 cos (2φ) = 1. ▲

Associated with cylindrical and spherical coordinates are unit vectors that are the
counterparts of i, j, and k for rectangular coordinates. They are shown in Figure 1.4.8.
For example, er is the unit vector parallel to the x y plane and in the radial direction, so
that er = (cos θ )i + (sin θ)j. Similarly, in spherical coordinates, eφ is the unit vector
tangent to the curve parametrized by the variable φ with the variables ρ and θ held fixed.
We shall use these unit vectors later when we use cylindrical and spherical coordinates
in vector calculations.