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Del in Cylindrical and Spherical Coordinates - Wikipedia

This document provides a comprehensive overview of vector calculus formulas for cylindrical and spherical coordinates, including definitions and conversions between coordinate systems. It emphasizes the use of the atan2 function for angle calculations and presents the del operator in various coordinate systems. Additionally, it includes references for further reading and external resources related to the topic.

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33 views9 pages

Del in Cylindrical and Spherical Coordinates - Wikipedia

This document provides a comprehensive overview of vector calculus formulas for cylindrical and spherical coordinates, including definitions and conversions between coordinate systems. It emphasizes the use of the atan2 function for angle calculations and presents the del operator in various coordinate systems. Additionally, it includes references for further reading and external resources related to the topic.

Uploaded by

Aruodg
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Del in cylindrical and spherical coordinates

This is a list of some vector calculus formulae for working with common curvilinear coordinate systems.

Notes
▪ This article uses the standard notation ISO 80000-2, which supersedes ISO 31-11, for spherical coordinates (other sources may reverse the definitions of θ and
φ):
▪ The polar angle is denoted by : it is the angle between the z-axis and the radial vector connecting the origin to the point in question.
▪ The azimuthal angle is denoted by : it is the angle between the x-axis and the projection of the radial vector onto the xy-plane.
▪ The function atan2(y, x) can be used instead of the mathematical function arctan(y/x) owing to its domain and image. The classical arctan function has an
image of (−π/2, +π/2), whereas atan2 is defined to have an image of (−π, π].

Coordinate conversions
Conversion between Cartesian, cylindrical, and spherical coordinates [1]

From

Cartesian Cylindrical Spherical

Cartesian

Cylindrical
To

Spherical

CAUTION: the operation must be interpreted as the two-argument inverse tangent, atan2.

Unit vector conversions


Conversion between unit vectors in Cartesian, cylindrical, and spherical coordinate systems in terms of
destination coordinates[1]

Cartesian Cylindrical Spherical

Cartesian

Cylindrical

Spherical

Conversion between unit vectors in Cartesian, cylindrical, and spherical coordinate systems in terms of source
coordinates

Cartesian Cylindrical Spherical

Cartesian

Cylindrical

Spherical

Del formula
Table with the del operator in cartesian, cylindrical and spherical coordinates

Spherical coordinates (r, θ, φ),


Operation Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z) Cylindrical coordinates (ρ, φ, z)
where θ is the polar angle and φ is the azimuthal angleα

Vector field
A

Gradient ∇f[1]

Divergence
∇ ⋅ A[1]

Curl ∇ × A[1]

Laplace
operator
∇2f ≡ Δf[1]

Vector
gradient ∇Aβ

Vector
Laplacian
∇2A ≡ ΔA[2]

Directional
derivative
(A ⋅ ∇)B[3]
Tensor
divergence
∇ ⋅ Tγ

Differential
displacement
dℓ[1]

Differential
normal area
dS

Differential
volume dV[1]

^α This page uses for the polar angle and for the azimuthal angle, which is common notation in physics. The source that is used for these formulae uses
for the azimuthal angle and for the polar angle, which is common mathematical notation. In order to get the mathematics formulae, switch and in the
formulae shown in the table above.

^β Defined in Cartesian coordinates as . An alternative definition is .

^γ Defined in Cartesian coordinates as . An alternative definition is .

Calculation rules
1.
2.
3.
4. (Lagrange's formula for del)
5.
6. (From [4] )

Cartesian derivation
The expressions for and are found in the same way.

Cylindrical derivation
Spherical derivation
Unit vector conversion formula
The unit vector of a coordinate parameter u is defined in such a way that a small positive change in u causes the position vector to change in direction.

Therefore,

where s is the arc length parameter.

For two sets of coordinate systems and , according to chain rule,

Now, we isolate the th component. For , let . Then divide on both sides by to get:

See also
▪ Del
▪ Orthogonal coordinates
▪ Curvilinear coordinates
▪ Vector fields in cylindrical and spherical coordinates

References
1. Griffiths, David J. (2012). Introduction to Electrodynamics. Pearson. ISBN 978-0-321-85656-2.
2. Arfken, George; Weber, Hans; Harris, Frank (2012). Mathematical Methods for Physicists (Seventh ed.). Academic Press. p. 192. ISBN 9789381269558.
3. Weisstein, Eric W. "Convective Operator" (http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ConvectiveOperator.html). Mathworld. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
4. Fernández-Guasti, M. (2012). "Green's Second Identity for Vector Fields" (https://doi.org/10.5402%2F2012%2F973968). ISRN Mathematical Physics. 2012.
Hindawi Limited: 1–7. doi:10.5402/2012/973968 (https://doi.org/10.5402%2F2012%2F973968). ISSN 2090-4681 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/2090-4681).

External links
▪ Maxima Computer Algebra system scripts (http://www.csulb.edu/~woollett/) to generate some of these operators in cylindrical and spherical coordinates.

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