Comparison to the finite difference method

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section
by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and
removed. (November 2010)
The finite difference method (FDM) is an alternative way of approximating solutions of PDEs.
The differences between FEM and FDM are:

The most attractive feature of the FEM is its ability to handle complicated geometries
(and boundaries) with relative ease. While FDM in its basic form is restricted to handle
rectangular shapes and simple alterations thereof, the handling of geometries in FEM is
theoretically straightforward.

The most attractive feature of finite differences is that it can be very easy to implement.

There are several ways one could consider the FDM a special case of the FEM approach.
E.g., first order FEM is identical to FDM for Poisson's equation, if the problem is
discretized by a regular rectangular mesh with each rectangle divided into two triangles.

There are reasons to consider the mathematical foundation of the finite element
approximation more sound, for instance, because the quality of the approximation
between grid points is poor in FDM.

The quality of a FEM approximation is often higher than in the corresponding FDM
approach, but this is extremely problem-dependent and several examples to the contrary
can be provided.

Generally, FEM is the method of choice in all types of analysis in structural mechanics (i.e.
solving for deformation and stresses in solid bodies or dynamics of structures) while
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tends to use FDM or other methods like finite volume
method (FVM). CFD problems usually require discretization of the problem into a large number
of cells/gridpoints (millions and more), therefore cost of the solution favors simpler, lower order
approximation within each cell. This is especially true for 'external flow' problems, like air flow
around the car or airplane, or weather simulation.
Common coordinate systems
Number line
Main article: Number line

The simplest example of a coordinate system is the identification of points on a line with real
numbers using the number line. In this system, an arbitrary point O (the origin) is chosen on a
given line. The coordinate of a point P is defined as the signed distance from O to P, where the

signed distance is the distance taken as positive or negative depending on which side of the line
P lies. Each point is given a unique coordinate and each real number is the coordinate of a
unique point.[4]

Cartesian coordinate system

Main article: Cartesian coordinate system

The Cartesian coordinate system in the plane.

The prototypical example of a coordinate system is the Cartesian coordinate system. In the plane,
two perpendicular lines are chosen and the coordinates of a point are taken to be the signed
distances to the lines.

In three dimensions, three perpendicular planes are chosen and the three coordinates of a point
are the signed distances to each of the planes.[5] This can be generalized to create n coordinates
for any point in n-dimensional Euclidean space.
Depending on the direction and order of the coordinate axis the system may be a right-hand or a
left-hand system.

Polar coordinate system

Main article: Polar coordinate system

Another common coordinate system for the plane is the polar coordinate system.[6] A point is
chosen as the pole and a ray from this point is taken as the polar axis. For a given angle , there
is a single line through the pole whose angle with the polar axis is (measured counterclockwise
from the axis to the line). Then there is a unique point on this line whose signed distance from
the origin is r for given number r. For a given pair of coordinates (r, ) there is a single point, but
any point is represented by many pairs of coordinates. For example (r, ), (r, +2) and (r, +)
are all polar coordinates for the same point. The pole is represented by (0, ) for any value of .

Cylindrical and spherical coordinate systems

Main articles: Cylindrical coordinate system and Spherical coordinate system

There are two common methods for extending the polar coordinate system to three dimensions.
In the cylindrical coordinate system, a z-coordinate with the same meaning as in Cartesian
coordinates is added to the r and polar coordinates.[7] Spherical coordinates take this a step
further by converting the pair of cylindrical coordinates (r, z) to polar coordinates (, ) giving a
triple (, , ).[8] Cylindrical coordinates system have the following coordinates, ,,z
Homogeneous coordinate system
Main article: Homogeneous coordinates

A point in the plane may be represented in homogeneous coordinates by a triple (x, y, z) where
x/z and y/z are the Cartesian coordinates of the point.[9] This introduces an "extra" coordinate
since only two are needed to specify a point on the plane, but this system is useful in that it
represents any point on the projective plane without the use of infinity. In general, a
homogeneous coordinate system is one where only the ratios of the coordinates are significant
and not the actual values.
Other commonly used systems

Some other common coordinate systems are the following:

Curvilinear coordinates are a generalization of coordinate systems generally;

the system is based on the intersection of curves.
o

Orthogonal coordinates: coordinate surfaces meet at right angles

Skew coordinates: coordinate surfaces are not orthogonal

orthogonal coordinates

The log-polar coordinate system represents a point in the plane by the

logarithm of the distance from the origin and an angle measured from a
reference line intersecting the origin.

Plcker coordinates are a way of representing lines in 3D Euclidean space

using a six-tuple of numbers as homogeneous coordinates.

Generalized coordinates are used in the Lagrangian treatment of mechanics.

Canonical coordinates are used in the Hamiltonian treatment of mechanics.

Parallel coordinates visualise a point in n-dimensional space as a polyline

connecting points on n vertical lines.

Barycentric coordinates as used for ternary plots and more generally in the
analysis of triangles.

Trilinear coordinates are used in the context of triangles.

There are ways of describing curves without coordinates, using intrinsic equations that use
invariant quantities such as curvature and arc length. These include:

The Whewell equation relates arc length and the tangential angle.

The Cesro equation relates arc length and curvature.