3D DYNAMICS

Orthogonal Coordinate Frames

AUGUST 3, 2023
MOHAMMAD FAZLUR RAHMAN
Sandip University, Nashik
Table of Contents
ORTHOGONAL COORDINATE FRAMES.................................................................................. 2
ORTHOGONALITY CONDITION ................................................................................. 2
PROOF OF THE ORTHOGONALITY CONDITION ................................................ 2
ORTHOGONAL COORDINATE FRAMES
Among all the coordinate frames, orthogonal coordinate frames are the most useful concept in our
daily life. The reason is, it fits with our mindset and is compatible with our daily life and our sense
of dimensions. Its orthogonality makes it most useful among all the coordinate frames available.

Orthogonality condition
Let us consider a coordinate system 𝑂𝑢𝑣𝑤. It has its unit vectors in its respective directions,
viz. 𝑢̂𝑢 , 𝑢̂𝑣 , 𝑢̂𝑤 respectively. For the coordinate system to orthogonal, these unit vectors must bear
a relation given below.

𝑢̂𝑢 · 𝑢̂𝑣 = 0, 𝑢̂𝑣 · 𝑢̂𝑤 = 0, 𝑢̂𝑤 · 𝑢̂𝑢 = 0

𝑢̂𝑢 × 𝑢̂𝑣 = 𝑢̂𝑤 , 𝑢̂𝑣 × 𝑢̂𝑤 = 𝑢̂𝑢 , 𝑢̂𝑤 × 𝑢̂𝑢 = 𝑢̂𝑣

𝑢̂𝑢 · 𝑢̂𝑢 = 1, 𝑢̂𝑣 · 𝑢̂𝑣 = 1, 𝑢̂𝑤 · 𝑢̂𝑤 = 1

These relations also confirm that the axes are mutually perpendicular and that’s what we call as
orthogonal condition.

Using these concepts, we can write any vector in its decomposed form as below:

𝐫 = (𝐫 · 𝑢̂𝑢 )𝑢̂𝑢 + (𝐫 · 𝑢̂𝑣 )𝑢̂𝑣 + (𝐫 · 𝑢̂𝑤 )𝑢̂𝑤

Above equation is called orthogonality condition of coordinate system. Writing the same for a
cartesian coordinate system:

𝐫 = (𝐫 · 𝑖̂)𝑖̂ + (𝐫 · 𝑗̂)𝑗̂ + (𝐫 · 𝑘̂ )𝑘̂

Proof of the orthogonality condition

Let there be an orthogonal coordinate frame 𝑂𝑢𝑣𝑤 and it has its unit vectors in its respective
directions as 𝑢̂𝑢 , 𝑢̂𝑣 and 𝑢̂𝑤 . Then, we can write any vector in this coordinate system as:

𝐫 = 𝑢𝑢̂𝑢 + 𝑣𝑢̂𝑣 + 𝑤𝑢̂𝑤

Now, because of the orthogonality, we have:

𝑢̂𝑢 · 𝑢̂𝑣 = 0, 𝑢̂𝑣 · 𝑢̂𝑤 = 0, 𝑢̂𝑤 · 𝑢̂𝑢 = 0

So,

𝐫 · 𝑢̂𝑢 = (𝑢𝑢̂𝑢 + 𝑣𝑢̂𝑣 + 𝑤𝑢̂𝑤 ) · 𝑢̂𝑢 = 𝑢

𝐫 · 𝑢̂𝑣 = (𝑢𝑢̂𝑢 + 𝑣𝑢̂𝑣 + 𝑤𝑢̂𝑤 ) · 𝑢̂𝑣 = 𝑣

 𝐫 · 𝑢̂𝑤 = (𝑢𝑢̂𝑢 + 𝑣𝑢̂𝑣 + 𝑤𝑢̂𝑤 ) · 𝑢̂𝑤 = 𝑤

Finally, the vector 𝐫 becomes:

𝐫 = 𝑢𝑢̂𝑢 + 𝑣𝑢̂𝑣 + 𝑤𝑢̂𝑤 = (𝐫 · 𝑢̂𝑢 )𝑢̂𝑢 + (𝐫 · 𝑢̂𝑣 )𝑢̂𝑣 + (𝐫 · 𝑢̂𝑤 )𝑢̂𝑤

Replacing with the cartesian coordinate frame and respective unit vectors:

𝐫 = (𝐫 · 𝑖̂)𝑖̂ + (𝐫 · 𝑗̂)𝑗̂ + (𝐫 · 𝑘̂ )𝑘̂

Decomposition of a vector in a nonorthogonal frame

Let there be three vectors 𝐚, 𝐛, 𝐜 which are non-orthogonal, non-coplanar to each other and they
construct a coordinate frame while these vectors being the three axes of the coordinate frame.

𝐚 = 𝑎1 𝑖̂ + 𝑎2 𝑗̂ + 𝑎3 𝑘̂

𝐛 = 𝑏1 𝑖̂ + 𝑏2 𝑗̂ + 𝑏3 𝑘̂

𝐜 = 𝑐1 𝑖̂ + 𝑐2 𝑗̂ + 𝑐3 𝑘̂

Then any vector 𝒓 can be expressed in the terms of these three vectors 𝐚, 𝐛, 𝐜 as below:

𝐫 = 𝑢𝐚 + 𝑣𝐛 + 𝑤𝐜
provided 𝑢, 𝑣 and 𝑤 are properly chosen.

To find the values of 𝑢, 𝑣 and 𝑤, we do the scalar multiplication of the above equation with
appropriate vectors.

𝐫 · (𝐛 × 𝒄) = 𝑢𝐚 · (𝐛 × 𝒄) + 𝑣𝐛 · (𝐛 × 𝒄) + 𝑤𝐜 · (𝐛 × 𝒄)

Using the concept of cross product. The vector (𝐛 × 𝒄) must be perpendicular to both 𝐛 and 𝐜. To
the second and third term in the above equation will yield 0. So,

𝐫 · (𝐛 × 𝒄) = 𝑢𝐚 · (𝐛 × 𝒄)

And hence,

𝐫 · (𝐛 × 𝒄) [𝐫𝐛𝐜]
𝑢= =
𝐚 · (𝐛 × 𝒄) [𝐚𝐛𝐜]
where, [𝐚𝐛𝐜] is shorthand notation for the scalar triple product.

𝑎1 𝑏1 𝑐1
[𝐚𝐛𝐜] = 𝐚 · (𝐛 × 𝒄) = |𝑎2 𝑏2 𝑐2 |
𝑎3 𝑏3 𝑐3

In the similar manner, we can find the values of 𝑣 and 𝑤 also.

 𝐫 · (𝐜 × 𝐚) [𝐫𝐜𝐚]
𝑣= =
𝐛 · (𝐜 × 𝐚) [𝐛𝐜𝐚]

𝐫 · (𝐚 × 𝐛) [𝐫𝐚𝐛]
𝑤= =
𝐜 · (𝐚 × 𝐛) [𝐜𝐚𝐛]

Hence,

[𝐫𝐛𝐜] [𝐫𝐜𝐚] [𝐫𝐚𝐛]

𝐫= 𝐚+ 𝐛+ 𝐜
[𝐚𝐛𝐜] [𝐛𝐜𝐚] [𝐜𝐚𝐛]

Further we can write,

𝐛×𝒄 𝐜×𝐚 𝐚×𝐛

𝐫 = (𝐫 · ) 𝐚 + (𝐫 · ) 𝐛 + (𝐫 · )𝐜
[𝐚𝐛𝐜] [𝐛𝐜𝐚] [𝐜𝐚𝐛]

On multiplying with [𝐚𝐛𝐜] throughout, it gives a symmetric equation.

[𝐚𝐛𝐜]𝐫 − [𝐛𝐜𝐫]𝐚 − [𝐜𝐫𝐚]𝐛 − [𝐫𝐚𝐛]𝐜 = 𝟎

If 𝐚, 𝐛, 𝐜 form an Orthogonal Cartesian system (𝐼̂, 𝐽̂, 𝐾

̂ ), then

[𝐼̂ 𝐽̂ 𝐾
̂] = 1

𝐼̂ × 𝐽̂ = 𝐾
̂, 𝐽̂ × 𝐾
̂ = 𝐼̂, ̂ × 𝐼̂ = 𝐽̂
𝐾

In that case the vector becomes

𝐫 = (𝐫 · 𝐼̂) 𝐼̂ + (𝐫 · 𝐽̂) 𝐽̂ + (𝐫 · 𝐾
̂) 𝐾
̂