Hello,
I am a little confused about the system of coordinates the spherical, cartesian and cylindrical.
Taking for example the spherical and cartesian coordinates. Suppose I have a vector at point (x1, y1, z1) in the cartesian system and the vector is Ax i + Ay j + Az k
Now I want to transform it to spherical coordinates. The equations for space transformation from Cartesian to Spherical are:
r = √(x² + y² + z²) ; θ = arctan (√(x² + y²) / z) ; Φ = arctan(y/x)
So I think I can use x1, y1, z1 in these equations to find the point in spherical coordinates where the vector is located. Now how do I transform the vector to spherical notation? Do I use the same equations? Or do I substitute these equations for the cartesian unit vectors in Ax i + Ay j + Az k and get the spherical counterpart
The unit vectors in cartesian coordinates are related to the unit vectors of spherical coordinates by the equations:
i = sinθ cosΦ r + cosθ cosΦ θ - sinΦ Φ
j = sinθ sinΦ r + cosθ sinΦ θ + cosΦ Φ
k = cosθ r - sinθ θ
So do I use these and substitute in place of the cartesian unit vectors in the A vector and get my spherical vector?
Or the 3rd possibility is that I transform Ax, Ay, Az from the 1st set of transformation equations and transform the cartesian unit vectors by the second set of equations, and substitute all that in Ax i + Ay j + Az k and get the vector in spherical coordinates?