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    Spherical polar coordinates provide an alternative to Cartesian coordinates for describing points in 3D space. In spherical polar coordinates, every point P is defined by its radial distance r from the origin O, its polar angle θ relative to the z-axis, and its azimuthal angle φ in the x-y plane. The diagram shows how the Cartesian coordinates (x,y,z) of a point relate to its spherical polar coordinates (r, θ, φ). Formulas allow converting between the two coordinate systems.

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    Spherical Polar Coordinates

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    Spherical polar coordinates provide an alternative to Cartesian coordinates for describing points in 3D space. In spherical polar coordinates, every point P is defined by its radial distance r from the origin O, its polar angle θ relative to the z-axis, and its azimuthal angle φ in the x-y plane. The diagram shows how the Cartesian coordinates (x,y,z) of a point relate to its spherical polar coordinates (r, θ, φ). Formulas allow converting between the two coordinate systems.

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    17 views1 page

    Spherical Polar Coordinates

    Uploaded by

    rodwellhead
    Spherical polar coordinates provide an alternative to Cartesian coordinates for describing points in 3D space. In spherical polar coordinates, every point P is defined by its radial distance r from the origin O, its polar angle θ relative to the z-axis, and its azimuthal angle φ in the x-y plane. The diagram shows how the Cartesian coordinates (x,y,z) of a point relate to its spherical polar coordinates (r, θ, φ). Formulas allow converting between the two coordinate systems.

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    Spherical Polar Coordinates


    Spherical polar coordinates or cylindrical polar coordinates are often more natural to use in describing three-dimensional systems than the more usual Cartesian coordinate system1. In the spherical polar coordinate system every point P is defined in the form (r, , ), where r is the distance from a point to the origin O, is the angle that the line OP makes with the z-axis and is the angle between the z-x plane and the plane containing P and the z-axis. The following diagram illustrates the relationship between a point defined in Cartesian coordinates with its representation in spherical polar coordinates. (x,y,z) are the Cartesian coordinates of a point and (r, , ) are the spherical polar coordinates of the same point. The angle is also known as the azimuthal coordinate and it is normally restricted to or The angle lies in the range z

    (x,y,z)=(R sin cos

    R sin sin

    R cos ))

    r O

    The formulas can be rearranges so that tan

    , cos()=

    and

    See the document on the polar coordinate system2 for further explanation.

    Cartesian Coordinates

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