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Mechanics

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Mechanics Ahmed H. Ali

COORDINATE SYSTEMS
Many aspects of physics deal in some form or other with locations in space. For example,
we saw that the mathematical description of an object’s motion requires a method for
describing the object’s position at various times. This description is accomplished with
the use of coordinates, in which horizontal and vertical axes intersect at a point taken to
be the origin. Cartesian coordinates are also called rectangular coordinates. In order to
describe the spatial variations of the quantities, we require using appropriate coordinate
system. A point or vector can be represented in a curvilinear coordinate system that may
be orthogonal or non-orthogonal. An orthogonal system is one in which the co-ordinates
are mutually perpendicular. Non-orthogonal co-ordinate systems are also possible, but
their usage is very limited in practice.
In the following sections we discuss three most commonly used orthogonal coordinate
systems, viz:
1. Cartesian (or rectangular) coordinate system
2. Cylindrical coordinate system
3. Spherical polar coordinate system

Cartesian coordinate system:

In Cartesian coordinate system (x,y,z). A point P(x0, y0, z0) in Cartesian coordinate
system is represented as intersection of three planes x = x0, y = y0 and z = z0. The unit
vectors satisfy the following relation:

,
Mechanics Ahmed H. Ali

A vector can be written as, , where, is the magnitude and is the

unit vector which has unit magnitude and same direction as that of .

Fig 1: Cartesian coordinate system

In cartesian co-ordinate system, a vector can be written as .

The dot and cross product of two vectors and can be written as follows:
Mechanics Ahmed H. Ali

Polar Coordinates System

The polar coordinates of point P is written as an ordered pair r , , that is P(r , ) where
r = distance from origin to P

 = angle from polar axis to the line OP

r P(r,ɵ)


O

Note:

(i)  is positive in anticlockwise direction, and it is negative in clockwise

direction.

(ii) Polar coordinate of a point is not unique.

(iii) A point  r ,  is in the opposite direction of point r , .

Relationship between Cartesian and Polar Coordinates

Cartesian Polar

x  r cos
y  r sin 

Sometimes it is more convenient to represent a point in a plane by

its plane polar coordinates (r,ɵ), as shown in Figure1. In this polar
coordinate system, r is the distance from the origin to the point having cartesian
coordinates (x, y), and ɵ is the angle between r and a fixed axis. This fixed axis is usually
the positive x axis, and ɵ is usually measured counterclockwise from it. From the right
triangle in Figure 2, we find that sin ɵ = y/r and that cos ɵ= x/r. Therefore, starting with
the plane polar coordinates of any point, we can obtain the cartesian coordinates, using
the equations

r  x2  y2 y
tan  
x
Mechanics Ahmed H. Ali

Example: Find the Cartesian coordinates of the points whose polar coordinates are
given as

(a)  7 
1, 
(b)  2  ,
  4, 

(c) 2,30  
 4   3 

Example: Find all polar coordinates of the points whose rectangular coordinates are
given as

(a) 11,5 (b) 0,2 , (c)  4,4

Example: Express the following rectangular equations in polar equations.

(a) y  x2 (b) x 2  y 2  16 (c) xy  1

Cylindrical Coordinates
Cylindrical coordinates extend polar coordinates to 3D space. In the cylindrical
coordinate system, a point P in 3D space is represented by the ordered triple (r , , z ) .
Here, r represents the distance from the origin to the projection of the point P onto the x-y
plane,  is the angle in radians from the x axis to the projection of the point on the x-y
plane, and z is the distance from the x-y plane to the point P.

P( r ,  , z )

y
r


x
Mechanics Ahmed H. Ali

As a review, of the sine, cosine, and tangent functions at basic angle values.

Sine and Cosine of Basic Angle Values

 Degrees  Radians cos  sin  sin 

tan  
cos 
0 0 cos 0  1 sin 0  0 0
30  3 1 3
6 2 2 3
45  2 2 1
4 2 2
60  1 3 3
3 2 2
90  0 1 undefined
2
180  -1 0 0
270 3 0 -1 undefined
2
360 2 1 0 0

The following represent the conversion equations from cylindrical to rectangular

coordinates and vice versa.

Conversion Formulas

To convert from cylindrical coordinates (r , , z ) to rectangular form (x, y, z) and vise

versa, we use the following conversion equations.

From polar to rectangular form: x  r cos  , y  r sin  , z = z.

y
From rectangular to polar form: r 2  x 2  y 2 , tan   , and z = z
x

Example 1: Convert the points ( 2 , 2 ,3) and (3, 3,1) from rectangular to
cylindrical coordinates.
Mechanics Ahmed H. Ali


Example 2: Convert the point (3, ,1) from cylindrical to rectangular coordinates.
4

Graphing in Cylindrical Coordinates

Cylindrical coordinates are good for graphing surfaces of revolution where the z axis is
the axis of symmetry. One method for graphing a cylindrical equation is to convert the
equation and graph the resulting 3D surface.
Example 3: Identify and make a rough sketch of the equation z  r 2

x
Mechanics Ahmed H. Ali

Spherical Coordinates

Spherical coordinates represents points from a spherical “global” perspective. They are
good for graphing surfaces in space that have a point or center of symmetry.

Points in spherical coordinates are represented by the ordered triple

(  , ,  )

where  is the distance from the point to the origin O,  , where is the angle in radians
from the x axis to the projection of the point on the x-y plane (same as cylindrical

coordinates), and  is the angle between the positive z axis and the line segment OP
joining the origin and the point P (  , ,  ) . Note 0     .

 P(  ,  ,  )

x
Mechanics Ahmed H. Ali

Conversion Formulas

To convert from cylindrical coordinates (  , ,  ) to rectangular form (x, y, z) and vise

versa, we use the following conversion equations.

From to rectangular form: x   sin  cos  , y   sin  sin  , z   cos 

y
From rectangular to polar form:  2  x 2  y 2  z 2 , tan   , and
x
z z
  arccos( 2 )  arccos( )
x  y2  z2 

Example 5: Convert the points (1, 1, 1) and (3, 3,2 2 ) from rectangular to spherical
coordinates.


Example 6: Convert the point (9, ,  ) from spherical coordinates to rectangular.
4

Example 7: Convert the equation   2 sec  to rectangular coordinates.


Example 8: Convert the equation   to rectangular coordinates.
3

z
Solution: For this problem, we use the equation   arccos( ) . If we take
x2  y2  z 2
the cosine of both sides of the this equation, this is equivalent to the equation

z
cos  
x2  y2  z 2

Setting   gives
3
 z
cos  .
3 x y z
2 2 2

 1
Since cos  , this gives
3 2

1 z

2 x2  y2  z2
Mechanics Ahmed H. Ali

or

x 2  y 2  z 2  2z

Hence, x 2  y 2  z 2  2 z is the equation in rectangular coordinates. Doing some

algebra will help us see what type of graph this gives.

Squaring both sides gives

x 2  y 2  z 2  (2 z ) 2
x 2  y 2  z 2  4z 2
x 2  y 2  3z 2  0

The graph of x 2  y 2  3z 2  0 is a cone shape half whose two parts be found by

graphing the two equations  x 2  y 2  z 2  2 z . The graph of the top part,
x 2  y 2  z 2  2z ,

Example 9: Convert the equation x 2  y 2  z to cylindrical coordinates and spherical

coordinates.
Mechanics Ahmed H. Ali

Solution: For cylindrical coordinates, we know that r 2  x 2  y 2 . Hence, we have

r 2  z or
r z

For spherical coordinates, we let x   sin  cos  , y   sin  sin  , and z   cos 
to obtain

(  sin  cos  ) 2  (  sin  sin  ) 2   cos 

We solve for  using the following steps:

 2 sin 2  cos 2    2 sin 2  sin 2    cos  (Square terms)

 2 sin 2  (cos 2   sin 2  )   cos  (Factor  2 sin 2  )
 2 sin 2  (1)   cos   0 (Use identity cos 2   sin 2   1)
 (  sin 2   cos  )  0 (Factor  )
  0,  sin 2   cos   0 (Set each factor equal to zero and solve)
cos 
  0,  
sin 2 

Triple Integrals in Cylindrical Coordinates

Suppose we are given a continuous function of three variables f (r , , z ) expressed over a

solid region E in 3D where we use the cylindrical coordinate system.

z  h2 (r , )

E
y
r  g 2 ( )
1 z  h1 (r , )
2

r  g1 ( )
x
Mechanics Ahmed H. Ali

Then

  2 r  g 2 ( ) z  h2 ( r , )

 f (r, , z) dV     f (r , , z ) r dz dr d
E  1 r  g1 ( ) z  h1 ( r , )

  2 r  g 2 ( ) z  h2 ( r , )
Volume of E   dV     r dz dr d
E  1 r  g1 ( ) z  h1 ( r , )

 ( x  xy 2 ) dV , where E is the

3
Example 10: Use cylindrical coordinates to evaluate
E
solid in the first octant that lies beneath the paraboloid z  1  x 2  y 2 .

Example 11: Use cylindrical coordinates to find the volume of the solid that lies both
within the cylinder x 2  y 2  4 and the sphere x 2  y 2  z 2  9 .

Solution: Using Maple, we can produce the following graph that represents this solid:

In this graph, the shaft of the solid is represented by the cylinder equation x 2  y 2  4 . It is
capped on the top and bottom by the sphere x 2  y 2  z 2  9 . Solving for z, the upper and
bottom portions of the sphere can be represented by the equations z   9  x 2  y 2 .
Mechanics Ahmed H. Ali

Thus, z ranges from z   9  x 2  y 2 to z  9  x 2  y 2 . Since x 2  y 2  r 2 in

cylindrical coordinates, these limits become z   9  r 2 to z  9  r 2 .When this surface
is projected onto the x-y plane, it is represented by the circle x 2  y 2  4 . The graph is

This is a circle of radius 2. Thus, in cylindrical coordinates, this circle can be represented
from r = 0 to r = 2 and from   0 to   2 . Thus, the volume can be represented by the
following integral:
  2 r  g 2 ( ) z  h2 ( r , )   2 r  2 z  9 r 2
Volume   dV     r dz dr d     r dz dr d
E  1 r  g1 ( ) z  h1 ( r , )  0 r  0 z   9 r 2

We evaluate this integral as follows:

Mechanics Ahmed H. Ali

  2 r  2 z  9 r 2   2 r  2 z  9 r 2

   r dz dr d    rz dr d
 0 r  0 z   9 r 2  0 r 0 z   9 r 2

  2 r  2
   r ( 9  r 2 )  r ( 9  r 2 ) dr d
 0 r 0
  2 r  2
   2r 9  r 2 dr d
 0 r 0
r2
  2 3
2
 d
2
  (9  r 2 ) (Use u - du sub let u  9 - r 2 )
 0
3
r 0
  2 3 3
2 2
 [ (9  2 2 )   (9  0 2 ) ] d
2 2

 0
3 3
  2 3 3
2 2
 [ (5)  (9) ] d
2 2

 0
3 3
  2 3 3
10
 5 ] d
2 2
 [18  (Note (9)  27 and (5)  5 5 )
 0
3
  2
10
 [18  5 ]
3  0
10
 (18  5 )2  0
3
20
 36  5
3

20
Thus, the volume is 36  5.
3

Triple Integrals in Spherical Coordinates

Suppose we have a continuous function f (  ,  , ) defined on a bounded solid region E.

 P(  ,  ,  )
Mechanics Ahmed H. Ali

Then

  2  2   h2 ( , )

 f (  , , ) dV     f (  ,  , )  2 sin d d d
E  1  1   h1 ( , )

  2  2   h2 ( , )
Volume of E   dV      2 sin d d d
E  1  1   h1 ( , )
Mechanics Ahmed H. Ali

x2  y 2  z 2
Example 12: Use spherical coordinates to evaluate  e dV , where E is
E
enclosed by the sphere x  y  z  9 in the first octant.
2 2 2

Solution:

2 4 x 2 16 x 2  y 2
Example 13: Convert    x 2  y 2 dz dy d from rectangular to
2 0 0
spherical coordinates and evaluate.

Solution: Using the identities x   sin  cos  and y   sin  sin  , the integrand becomes

x 2  y 2   2 sin 2  cos 2    2 sin 2  sin 2 

  2 sin 2  (cos 2   sin 2  )

  2 sin 2  (1)   sin 

The limits with respect to z range from z = 0 to z  16  x 2  y 2 . Note that

z  16  x 2  y 2 is a hemisphere and is the upper half of the sphere x 2  y 2  z 2  16 .
The limits with respect to y range from y = 0 to y  4  x 2 , which is the semicircle
located on the positive part of the y axis on the x-y plane of the circle x 2  y 2  4 as x
ranges from x  2 to x  2 . Hence, the region described by these limits is given by
the following graph
Mechanics Ahmed H. Ali


Thus, we can see that  ranges from   0 to   4 ,  ranges from   0 to   and
2
 ranges from   0 to    . Using these results, the integral can be evaluated in polar
coordinates as follows:
 Mechanics Ahmed H. Ali

2 4 x 2 16 x 2  y 2

   x 2  y 2 dz dy d
2 0 0


  2  4
     sin (  2 sin  ) d d d
 0  0  0


  2  4
     3 sin 2  d d d
 0  0  0

  4
  2
4
   sin  d d  (Integrate with respect to  )
2

 0  0
4
 0
 
 
  2 4   2
4
   [
4
sin 2   0]d d    64 sin 2  d d (Sub in limits and simplify)
 0  0  0  0


 
1  cos 2  1  cos 2u
2
   64
 2  d d

(Use trig identity sin 2 u 
2
)
 0  0
 
 
  2   2
   32(1  cos 2 ) d d    ( 32  32 cos 2 )d d (Simplify and dist 32)
 0  0  0  0

  
1 2
  ( 32  32( ) sin 2 )
2
(Integrate with respect to , use u - du sub for cos2 )
 0  0

    
2   
  ( 32  16 sin 2 ) d   [32    16 sin 2( ) ]  (32(0)  16 sin 0) d
2 2
 0  0  0
   
  (16  16 sin   0)d   (16  16(0) )d
 0  0
 
 
  16 d  16  0 (Integrate with respect to )
 0
 16 ( )  0  16 2

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