Coordinate Systems

Purpose of a Coordinate System

L. M. Kalnins, March 2009

The purpose of a coordinate system is to uniquely determine the position of an object or data point in space. By space we may literally mean in physical space, but in general it simply refers to what we might call variable-space, where each dimension corresponds to one variable. A graph of stock prices probably has variables of time and value, so we are in time-value space, and our coordinate system and any equations we might write need to specify the time and value of each data point. How many parameters does our coordinate system need to have? As many parameters as we have variables. This is related to the idea of dependent and independent vectors. If we only had two independent vectors, we couldnt get to all of the points in a three dimensional object; likewise if we only have two parameters, we cant specify data in terms of three variables. However, we saw that any three independent variables will let us get to all of 3D space (will span 3-space, more formally). This also has an analogy in coordinate space. The choice of parameters is not in general unique any two independent parameters will do, although there are only a few standard choices.

Dierent Cartesian Coordinate Systems

Cartesian coordinate systems are familiar, and we tend to prefer to orient them just so, with the x-axis horizontal and the y-axis vertical. You should recall from Michaelmas term, however, that its possible to give a Cartesian coordinate system any arbitrary rotation, and that any two right-handed Cartesian systems can be related to each other by a rotation. We generally consider rotations about a particular axis, so that only two of the three coordinates change. The relationship between old and new coordinates can then be derived: y y
y sin

os

xs in

x xc

yc

os

x = x cos y sin y = x sin + y cos

Figure 1: The relationship between coordinates in two dierent Cartesian coordinate systems. Exercise 1: Use a sketch to derive the rotation matrix for a coordinate system rotation of /3 clockwise about the y-axis. Take several points in dierent quadrants and put them through the rotation matrix to nd their new coordinates. Use your sketch to check if the answers seem reasonable. 1

Polar Coordinates
Cartesian coordinates are very versatile, but for some applications including many curves, rotations, and complex numbers, it is simpler to use a coordinate system based on the circle. These are polar coordinates, and our two parameters are r, the radial distance between the point and the origin, and , the angle between the point and the positive x-axis. The simplest, most fundamental plots for a Cartesian coordinate system are vertical lines lines of equal x and horizontal lines lines of equal y. For the polar system, the fundamental plots are circles lines of equal r and straight lines through the origin lines of equal .
= /2 = 2/3 = 5/6 r=3 r=2 r=1 = =0 = /3 = /6

= 7/6 = 4/3 = 3/2

= 11/6

= 5/3

Figure 2: The polar coordinate system. We can use geometry to relate Cartesian coordinates to polar coordinates, just as we can relate dierent Cartesian coordinate systems. Youve seen this with complex numbers, but it naturally also relates the real Cartesian plane to real polar coordinates and can be used to transform equations in one system to the other. y

r x

y x

r = x2 + y 2 = arctan( y ) (pay attention to quadrant) x x = r cos y = r sin

Figure 3: The relationship between polar and Cartesian coordinates

Note that you must pay attention to which quadrant a point is in when converting from x and y to this is precisely what you are doing when you add when guring the argument for a complex number with a negative real part (make sure you see why this is true). In many applications, r is always greater than or equal to zero, but if r is negative, instead of going outwards along the correct line of you go backwards through the origin and out in the opposite direction (along the line ). For example, r = 2, = /2 is the same point as r = 2, = /2. Exercise 2: Plot the following polar equations by hand. Polar graph paper is available at http://www.intmath.com/downloads/Graph-paper.php, and you can check your answers using the graphing function at http://www.ies.co.jp/math/java/calc/sg kyok/sg kyok.html. r=4 = 5/12 r = /2 r = 3 cos r = 4 sin 4 Exercise 3: Experiment with dierent types of functions in polar coordinates using http://www.ies.co.jp/math/java/calc/sg kyok/sg kyok.html, another computer programme, or a graphing calculator. Try various combinations of trigonometric functions as well as functions that are common in Cartesian coordinates such as polynomials. Figure out how to rotate a function and how to enlarge or shrink it. Can you do these easily in Cartesian coordinates? What eects do similar manipulations of functions have in Cartesian space? Note that the graphing programme uses for exponents, e.g. x2 = x2 . Exercise 4: Convert the following formulae from polar to Cartesian coordinates or vice versa and plot to check your answers. It may help to manipulate the equation to make the conversion simpler; it should also be possible to arrange your answer into a form that is familiar (at least in Cartesian coordinates). x=4 6xy = 8 r = 2 sin r = 5/(3 cos )

Cylindrical Coordinates
If you are familiar with 3D Cartesian coordinates and 2D polar coordinates, cylindrical coordinates are a very easy extension. They specify a radial distance r and an angle in one plane, as for polar coordinates, and a distance z perpendicular to that plane. The relationship between cylindrical coordinates and Cartesian ones is identical to that between polar and Cartesian, with the addition of z = z.

z r y

r = x2 + y 2 = arctan( y ) (pay attention to quadx rant) z=z x = r cos y = r sin z=z

x Figure 4: Cylindrical Coordinates Exercise 5: A child is playing on a corkscrew-shaped slide. The slide is 3 m tall, 1 m in diameter, and descends 0.75 m with each full turn. Find expressions for the r, z, and of the childs position in terms of time t if (a) the child goes through one turn of the corkscrew in 2 seconds (b) the child approaches the ground at 0.5 m/s (c) the childs velocity is 3 m/s. (These are called parametric equations, when you express each variable in terms of some additional parameter such as time.) Which of these is the fastest, and which the slowest? What restrictions should you place on your expressions to prevent the child from magically spirally through the air or into the ground?

Spherical Coordinates
Like cylindrical coordinates, spherical coordinates can be viewed as a 3D extension of polar coordinates. In this case, the third parameter is another angle, , measured from the north pole, and r refers to the total distance of the point from the origin, not the distance in one plane. The earths lines of latitude and longitude are a familiar system of spherical coordinates. Longitude is the , spanning 360 degrees or 2 radians, latitude is the , spanning 180 degrees or radians, and we dont usually bother about the r, since that is assumed to be radius of the earth. The other dierence is that spherical coordinate systems in mathematics usually use colatitude, measured from the north pole, rather than latitude, measured from the equator. This means that spans 0 rather than /2/2. N.B.: There are dierent conventions on whether is longitude and colatitude or vice versa. I have used for longitude to make the relationship between polar and spherical coordinate clearer, but its a good idea to check which convention is being used before you start a problem in spherical coordinates.

r = x2 + y 2 + z 2 = arctan y x = arccos z r x = r cos sin y = r sin sin z = r cos

x Figure 5: Spherical Coordinates Exercise 6: Derive the relationships between Cartesian and spherical coordinates given in Figure 5. Exercise 7: It is hopefully fairly obvious what shape is given by constant r. What shape is described by constant ? Constant ? What about by constant r and constant ? Constant r and constant ? Constant and constant ?