Review of Vector Analysis

Cartesian Coordinates
>> Basic Concepts of Vector Algebra
Scalars and Vectors
Unit Vector
Vector Addition and Subtraction
Position and Distance Vectors
Vector Multiplication
>> Differential Length, Area, and Volume
Cylindrical and Spherical Coordinate Systems
>> Cylindrical Coordinates
>> Spherical Coordinates
>> Transformation of Coordinate Systems
>> Differential Length, Area, and Volume
** This section is only a revision of your Mathematics subject.
** The knowledge is important to solve EMT problem.

Cartesian Coordinates
A coordinate system is used to uniquely specify the location
of a point in space or the direction of a vector quantity.
Commonly used coordinate system is Cartesian coordinate
system.
Other standard coordinate systems are Cylindrical and
Spherical coordinate systems
z
Az

z
Ax
x

Ay

Cartesian coordinate system

Scalars & Vectors

A scalar is a quantity that has only magnitude.
A vector is a quantity that has both magnitude and direction.

Quantity
Scalar

Vector

ScalarQuantities
Power
Current
Distance
ElectricPotential

VectorsQuantities
Force
Displacement
MagneticField
ElectricFieldIntensity

A scalar is represented simply by a letter such as A and B.

A vector is written by a letter in boldface
type or a letter with

an arrow on top of it such as A or A .

Unit Vector
A unit vector along A is defined as a vector whose
magnitude is unity (|| = 1) and
A
z
its direction along A is given by a

A Aa

Az
z

A
y

Ay

Ax

x
Vector A A a has
- a magnitude A = |A| &
-unit vector a A .
A

Vector = (Magnitude) x
(Direction)

In Cartesian coordinates:
A vector A can be written as A Ax x Ay y Az z
where unit vectors x, y, z are called the base vectors
Ax, Ay, and Az are the components of vector A
along the directions of x, y, and z.
Ax x Ay y Az z
2
2
2

|A| = A Ax Ay Az & a
2
2
2
Ax Ay Az

Example 1
A vector A is given as A 2 x 3 y sketch A and determine its
magnitude and unit vector.
Graphical representation of vector A
is shown below,
z

z
x

2
x

Example 2
A vector B is shown in Figure below. Find its magnitude and
unit vector.
z
4
3
2
1
2

1 2 3 4 5

The components of vector B are

B x 2, B y 5 & B z 4
The vector B can be written as
B B x x B y y B z z 2 x 5 y 4 z

Vector Addition and Subtraction

Graphically, vector addition and subtraction can be obtained
by using either head-to-tail rule or parallelogram rule.
A
A
B

B
D=A B
C=A+B

or
D=A+( B)

In a cartesian coordinate system

C A B ( Ax x Ay y Az z ) ( Bx x B y y Bz z )
( Ax Bx ) x ( Ay B y ) y ( Az Bz ) z
D A B ( Ax x Ay y Az z ) ( Bx x B y y Bz z )
( Ax Bx ) x ( Ay B y ) y ( Az Bz ) z

PositionandDistanceVectors
z

The position vector of point P is defined as

the direct distance from the origin O to P

P(xp,yp,zp)
Rp

R p OP x p x y p y z p z

The distance vector is the displacement from

one point to another
The distance vector between points P and Q is
Rp

R pq PQ R q R p

R pq ( xq x p )x ( yq y p )y ( z q z p )z

P(xp,yp,zp)

Rpq
O
Rq

Distance, d pq ( xq x p ) 2 ( yq y p ) 2 ( z q z p ) 2

Q(xq,yq,zq)

Example3
Two points P1 & P2 are respectively located at (-3,-2,-5) & (2,-4,3)
in a Cartesian coordinate system. Find the position vectors of the
points and determine the distance between them.
z

P2(2,-4,3)

3
2
1 -1

-4 -3 -2 1 -1
-1
2
-2
3
-3
x
-4
-5

-3
-2
2 3

P1(-3,-2,-5)

The position v ectors for points

P 1 and P 2 are given by
R 1 OP 1 x1 x y1 y z1z
3x 2 y 5z
R 2 OP 2 x2 x y 2 y z 2 z
2 x 4 y 3z

VectorMultiplication
Simple product: (vector) (scalar) = vector
B = kA = kA

The product is vector B whose the magnitude is kA & direction is the same as that of A.

Dot product: (vector) (vector) = scalar

A B = AB cos
where A and B are the magnitudes of A and B and is the angle between A and B.

Cross product: (vector) x (vector) = vector

A X B = AB sin n
where A and B are the magnitudes of A and B, is the angle between the two vectors
is identified by using right hand rule
and the direction of n

DotProduct(or ScalarProduct)
Definition:A B = AB cos
Since cos 90=0, cos 0 = 1, and
magnitude of unit vectors is 1.
Thus,

x x y y z z 1
x y y z z x 0

and

B cos
A

A A A2

If A = (Ax,Ay,Az) and B = (Bx,By,Bz), then

A B ( Ax x Ay y Az z) ( Bx x B y y Bz z)
A B Ax Bx Ay B y Az Bz

The projection of
vector B along the
direction of vector A

Example4
Find the dot product of vector A = (1,3,-2) and vector B = (-2,4,-1).
Then, calculate the smallest angle, between the vectors?
The dot product of A and B is
A B = 1(-2) + 3(4) + (-2)(-1) = 12
12 = A B = |A||B| cos

which implies = ?

CrossProduct
Definition:A X B = AB sin n

where is the angle between A and B, and n is a unit vector

normal to the plane containing A and B.
AXB
B

B sin

Direction is determined
by using right hand
rule

Magnitude is the area of the parallelogram

formed by vectors A and B.

CrossProduct(cont.)
Since sin 90=1, sin 0 = 0, and magnitude of unit vectors is 1.
Thus,

x x y y z z 0
x y z , y z x , z x y

and

AA 0

If A = (Ax,Ay,Az) and B = (Bx,By,Bz), then

A B ( Ax x Ay y Az z) ( Bx x B y y Bz z)
A B x ( A y Bz Az B y ) y( Ax Bz Az Bx ) z( Ax B y Ay Bx )
x
A B Ax

y
Ay

z
Az

Bx

By

Bz

Example5
3y 4z and B x y z
Determine A x B if A 2x

The cross product of A and B is

x
y
z
AB 2 3 4
1 1 1

Summary
x, y, z

Coordinate variables
Vector representation, A
Position vector, OP

Axx Ayy Azz

xx yy zz
for P (x,y,z)

Az
z
x O

Base vector properties

P
y

Ay

Ax
x

Dot product, A B
Cross product, A x B

x x y y z z 1
x y y z z x 0
x y z
y z x
z x y
Ax Bx Ay By Az Bz
x

Ax Ay Az
Bx By Bz

Cylindrical&SphericalCoordinate
Systems

Introduction
Cylindrical Coordinate System
Spherical Coordinate System
Transformation of Coordinate Systems
Differential Length, Area, and Volume

Introduction
An orthogonal coordinate system is one in which the
coordinates are mutually perpendicular
Beside Cartesian coordinate system, Cylindrical and Spherical
coordinate systems are also the orthogonal coordinate
systems.
Cylindrical Coordinate System
z

z1

Spherical Coordinate System

z

O
1 r1
x

O
1

y
x

R1

CylindricalCoordinateSystem
z
z1

Coordinate variables
Vector representation, A
Magnitude of A, A=|A|

The position vector

O
1 r1
x

Base vector properties

Ar r A Az z
2

Ar A Az

r1r z1z

for P1(r1, 1, z1)

r z z r 0
r r z z 1

r z , z r ,
z r

0 r , r : radial distance
0 2 , : azimuth angle
z

OP1

r, , z

Dot product, AB
Cross product, A x B

Ar Br A B Az Bz
r

Ar

Az

Br

Bz

SphericalCoordinateSystem
z

Coordinate variables
Vector representation, A

R
P
1

O
1

R1

Position vector
y

OP1

0 2

R1R

for P1(R1, 1, 1)
R
0
R

Base vector properties

0 R , R : radius
0 , : zenith angle

AR A A

Magnitudeof A,A

R, ,
A A
ARR

Dot product, AB
Cross product, A x B

R
1
R
, R
,
R

R
AR BR A B A B

AR
BR

A
B

A
B

Cartesian CylindricalTransformations
z

r
y=rsin

P(x,y,z)

x=rcos

CoordinateVariables
Cartesian
Cylindrical

tan
z z

Cylindrical
Cartesian

( y / x)

x r cos
y r sin
z z

r cos

sin

cos

sin

UnitVectors

VectorComponents

r x cos y sin
x sin y cos
z z
x r cos sin
y r sin cos

Ar Ax cos Ay sin

z z

A Ax sin Ay cos
Az Az
Ax Ar cos A sin
Ay Ar sin A cos
Az Az

CartesianSphericalTransformations
CoordinateVariables

UnitVectors

R x sin cos
Cartesian R x y z
y sin sin z cos
Spherical
1
2
2
tan ( x y / z ) x cos cos
2

tan 1 ( y / x )
Spherical
Cartesian

x R sin cos
y R sin sin
z R cos

y cos sin z sin

x sin y cos
x R sin cos
cos cos sin
y R sin sin
cos sin cos
z R cos sin

VectorComponents
AR Ax sin cos
Ay sin sin Az cos
A Ax cos cos
Ay cos sin Az sin
A Ax sin Ay cos
Ax AR sin cos
A cos cos A sin
A y AR sin sin
A cos sin A cos
Az AR cos A sin

CylindricalSphericalTransformations
CoordinateVariables
Cylindrical
Spherical

Spherical
Cylindrical

UnitVectors

VectorComponents

tan 1 ( r / z )

r sin z cos A A sin A cos

R
R
r
z
r cos z sin A Ar cos Az sin
A A

r R sin

z R cos

r R sin cos Ar AR sin A cos

A A

z R cos sin Az AR cos A sin

r2 z2

DifferentialLength,Area&Volume
From the figure,

ds z

(1) Differential displacement is given by

dy
dz

ds x
dz

dl
dy

dx

dx

ds y

d l dx x dy y dz z
(2) Differential normal area is given by

d s x dydz x
d s y dxdz y
d s z dxdy z
(3) Differential volume is given by

dV dxdydz

DifferentialLength,Area&Volume
(1)Differentialdisplacementisgivenby

d l r dr rd z dz
dz

(2)Differentialnormalareaisgivenby
d s r r rd dz

dr rd
y

drdz
ds
d s z z rdrd

(3)Differentialvolumeisgivenby

dV rdrd dz

DifferentialLength,Area&Volume
(1)Differentialdisplacementisgivenby
z

dR Rd R sind
dl R

Rsind

dR

(2)Differentialnormalareaisgivenby

Rd

ds

ds
x

ds

R R 2 sin d d
R sin dRd
RdRd

(3)Differentialvolumeisgivenby

dV R 2 sin dRd d

Example6
Find the area of a cylindrical surface described by r = 5, 300
600 and 0 z 3

z
z1 = 3

r=5

z0 = 0
0 = 300

1 =

300

Example7
A circular cylinder of r = 5 cm is concentric with the z axis and
extends between z = - 3 cm and z = 3 cm. Find the cylinders volume.

z
z1 = 3

r=5

y
x

z0 = -3