HF Electromagnetic Waves

EEE313_L2

Lecture – 2

Faculty

Dr. Mustafa Habib Vector Analysis

Chowdhury &
Coordinate Systems
IUB Dr. Mustafa Chowdhury 1
 Cartesian coordinate system
EEE313_L2

Cartesian coordinates are rectilinear two-dimensional or three-

dimensional coordinates, which are also called rectangular
coordinates and therefore a special case of curvilinear coordinates (a
coordinate system composed of intersecting surfaces).

z
x y

The three axes of three-dimensional Cartesian coordinates,

conventionally denoted by x-, y-, and z-axes (a notation due to
Descartes) are chosen to be linear and mutually perpendicular.
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 Cartesian coordinate system (contd..)
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Volume element :
dz
The gradient : dy
dx

The divergence :

The curl :

The Laplacian :

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 Cylindrical coordinate system
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The circular cylindrical coordinate system is

the three-dimensional version of the polar
coordinates of analytic geometry. z

In the two-dimensional polar coordinates, a

point was located in a plane by giving its
distance  from the origin, and the angle 
between the line from the point to the origin
and an arbitrary radial line, taken as  = 0.

A three-dimensional coordinate system,

circular cylindrical coordinates, is obtained
by also specifying the distance z of the point  
from an arbitrary z = 0 reference plane which
is perpendicular to the line  = 0.
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 Cylindrical coordinate system (contd..)
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For simplicity, a circular cylindrical coordinates simply usually

refer to as cylindrical coordinates.

Volume element
dv  dddz

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 Cylindrical coordinate system (contd..)
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The cylindrical coordinates (,,z) are related to the Cartesian

coordinates (x,y,z) by

Cylindrical variables in terms of

Cartesian coordinates (x,y,z),

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 Spherical coordinate system
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Spherical coordinates, also

called spherical polar
coordinates (Walton 1967), are
a system of curvilinear
coordinates that are natural for
describing positions on a sphere
or spheroid.

Define  to be the azimuthal angle in the xy-plane from the x-

axis with 0<<2,  to be the polar angle from the z-axis with
0<<, and r to be distance/radius with r>0 from a point to the
origin.

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 Spherical coordinate system (contd..)
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In terms of Cartesian coordinates (x,y,z),

The spherical coordinates (r,,) are related to the Cartesian

coordinates (x,y,z) by

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 Spherical coordinate system (contd..)
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Area element : da  r 2 sin dd rˆ

Volume element : dv  r 2 sin dddr

 1  1  ˆ
The gradient :  rˆ  ˆ  θ
r r  r sin  

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 Spherical coordinate system (contd..)
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Solid angle : d  S / r 2  r 2 sin dd / r 2  sin dd

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 Scalars
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The term scalar refers to a quantity whose value may be

represented by a single (positive or negative) real number. For
example mass, density, pressure (but not force), volume are the
scalar quantity.

Voltage is also a scalar quantity, although the complex

representation of a sinusoidal voltage produces a complex
scalar, or phasor, which requires two real numbers for its
representation, such as amplitude and phase angle, or real part
and imaginary part.

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 Vectors
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A vector quantity has both a magnitude and a direction in space.

We shall be concerned with two- and three-dimensional spaces

only, but vectors may be defined in n-dimensional space in more
advanced applications.

Force, velocity, acceleration, and a straight line from the

positive to the negative terminal of a storage battery are
examples of vectors. Each quantity is characterized by both a
magnitude and a direction.

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 Vector components & unit vector
EEE313_L2

A logical way to identify the vector r

is by giving the three component (a)
vectors, lying along the three
coordinate axes, whose vector sum
must be the given vector [Fig.(a)].

If the component vectors of the vector

r are x, y, and z, then r = x + y + z.
(b)
The unit vectors of the Cartesian
coordinate system have unit magnitude
and are directed toward increasing
values of their respective variables as
shown in Fig.(b).
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 The dot product
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Given two vectors A and B, the dot product, or scalar product,

is defined as the product of the magnitude of A, the magnitude
of B, and the cosine of the smaller angle between them,

A  B  A B cos  AB

The dot, or scalar, product is a scalar, as one of the names

implies, and it obeys the commutative law,

AB  B A
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 Example 1
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Given two vectors A = Axax+ Ayay+ Azaz and B = Bxax+ Byay+

Bzaz. Find A·B ?

Solution:

Since

Therefore,

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 The cross product
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The cross product or vector product

of two vectors A and B (written as
AB) is a vector; the magnitude of
which is equal to the product of the
magnitudes of A, B, and the sine of
the smaller angle between A and B.

A  B  a N A B sin  AB
It can be shown that
ax ay az
A  B  Ax Ay Az
Bx By Bz
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 The cross product (contd..)
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The direction of AB is
perpendicular to the plane containing
A and B and is along that one of the
two possible perpendiculars which is
in the direction of advance of a right-
handed screw as A is turned into B.
This direction is illustrated in the
right side figure.

Reversing the order of the vectors A

and B results in a unit vector in the
opposite direction, and we see that
the cross product is not commutative,
for B  A = -(A  B).
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 Vector identity
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 Next class
EEE313_L2

Electric
Fields
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