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Unit Vectors in Curvilinear Coordinates

The document discusses how to derive unit vectors in curvilinear coordinate systems. It explains that taking the partial derivative of the position vector with respect to each coordinate (u, v, w) gives the tangent vectors along the coordinate curves where the other two coordinates are held fixed. To get unit tangent vectors, these tangent vectors are divided by their lengths. The lengths (hu, hv , hw) are known as scale factors and depend on the partial derivatives of x, y, z with respect to u, v, w.

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Animesh Sen
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74 views2 pages

Unit Vectors in Curvilinear Coordinates

The document discusses how to derive unit vectors in curvilinear coordinate systems. It explains that taking the partial derivative of the position vector with respect to each coordinate (u, v, w) gives the tangent vectors along the coordinate curves where the other two coordinates are held fixed. To get unit tangent vectors, these tangent vectors are divided by their lengths. The lengths (hu, hv , hw) are known as scale factors and depend on the partial derivatives of x, y, z with respect to u, v, w.

Uploaded by

Animesh Sen
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© © All Rights Reserved
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derivation of unit vectors in curvilinear

coordinates
swapnizzle
2013-03-21 22:45:13

Let (u, v, w) be any non-Cartesian coordinate system such that


x = x(u, v, w), y = y(u, v, w), z = z(u, v, w) (1)
We can combine the above three equations into a single vector equation that
gives the position vector ~r of any point P = (x, y, z) in space as a function of
the coordinates u, v, w:
~r = x(u, v, w)i + y(u, v, w)j + z(u, v, w)k
If we held u fixed s.t. u = u0 then the position vector becomes the parametric
equation of the surface (called the coordinate surface) u = u0 where v, w play
the role of parameters. Furthermore, if we held both u and v fixed s.t u = u0
and v = v0 , then the position vector becomes the parametric equation of the
curve (called the coordinate curve) formed by the intersection of the surfaces
u = u0 and v = v0 , in which w acts as a parameter along the curve.
Now, how do we find the tangent vectors? Well, what is the meaning of a
tangent vector? A tangent vector is a vector which is tangent to a coordinate
curve formed by the intersection of the two coodinate surfaces. In other words,
it is a vector which indicates the direction in which one of the coordinates, say
u, increases while the other two coordinates (i.e. v and w) are held fixed. Sound
familiar? Yes, of course, partial derivatives! A partial derivative with respect to
u would take the derivative of the position vector ~r along the coordinate curve
formed by the intesection of the surfaces v = v0 and w = w0 and hence return
you a tangent vector along that curve! Hence, by taking the partial derivative
of ~r one by one with respect to all three coordinates, we would get all the three
tangent vectors which are tangent to their respective coordinate curves. Thus,
we arrive at the following three tangent vectors:
~r ~r ~r
~eu = ~ev = ~ew =
u v w
hDerivationOfUnitVectorsInCurvilinearCoordinatesi created: h2013-03-21i by:
hswapnizzlei version: h39321i Privacy setting: h1i hTopici h53A45i
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1
However, these are only tangent vectors. Most often we are interested in unit
tangent vectors (a.k.a. standard basis vectors for R3 ). So we divide them by
their respective lengths. Therefore,
~
r ~
r ~
r
eu = u ev = v ew = w (2)
~
r ~
r ~
r
u v w

But this is very cumbersome to write, so we instead write them as

~eu ~ev ~ew


eu = , ev = , ew =
hu hv hw
where
s
~r x y z  x 2  y 2  z 2
hu = |~eu | = = i + j+ k = + +

u u u u u u u

and, similarly, hv = |~ev |, hw = |~ew | where hu , hv , hw are known as scale factors


(or metric coefficients).

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