Coordinate Systems

(I) Cartesian Coordinates in the Plane:

• The position of any point in the plane can be measured with respect to two
perpendicular lines intersecting at origin, called coordinate axes.
• For any point (P) in the plane, we can draw lines through P perpendicular to
two coordinate axes.

• If the lines meet the X-axis at ‘a’ and Y-axis at ‘b’, the pair (a,b) is the
coordinate pair for the point P.
• For origin, the coordinate pair is (0,0)
• The axes divide the plane into four regions, called quadrants.
Increment and Distance:
• When a particle moves from one point to another point in the plane, the net
changes in its coordinates are called increments.
Increment = Coordinates of starting point – Coordinates of end point
• If x changes from x1 to x2, increment Δx = x2 – x1
• The distance (d) between two points in the plane P (x1, y1) and Q (x2, y2)

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 𝑑 = √(∆𝑥)2 + (∆𝑦)2 = √(𝑥2 − 𝑥1 )2 + (𝑦2 − 𝑦1 )2

• To calculate ‘d’ we apply the Pythagorean theorem to the triangle PCQ.

Example: Distance between P (-1, 2) and Q (3, 4) is

𝑑 = √(3 − (−1))2 + (4 − 2)2 = √20 = 2√5

Graphs:
• The graph of an equation or inequality involving the variables x and y, is the
set of all points P (x, y) whose coordinates satisfy the equation or inequality.
Example:
(a) For a > 0, the equation x2 + y2 = a2 represents all points P (x, y) whose
distance from origin is √𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 = √𝑎2 = 𝑎.
• These points lie on the circle of radius ‘a’ centered at origin.
• Thus, the equation of a circle is x2 + y2 = a2

(b) Consider an equation y = x2

• The points that satisfy this equation are (0,0), (1,1), (-1,1), (2,4), and (-2,4)
• Locus of all these points forms a parabola

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 (c) Straight line
• Given two points P1(x1, y1) and P2 (x2, y2) in a plane, the increments Δx = x2
– x1 and Δy = y2 – y1, are called run and rise, respectively

• Any unique straight line in the plane has the property that the ratio

𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒 ∆𝑦 𝑦2 − 𝑦1
𝑚= = =
𝑟𝑢𝑛 ∆𝑥 𝑥2 − 𝑥1
is called the slope of the line.
• Equation of a straight line: y = mx + b, where m is the slope and b is the y-
intercept

Coordinate Systems in Space

(II) Rectangular or Cartesian Coordinates (x, y, z):
• It involves three mutually perpendicular planes (XY, YZ, and ZX) or
perpendicular axes (X, Y, and Z)

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 • This is also called right-handed-coordinate system as a rotation of the x-
axis into the y-axis would cause a right-handed screw to progress in the z-
direction.
• Position of any point P can be specified by three perpendicular distances
from the planes as P (x, y, z)
• Ranges of coordinates
-∞< x < ∞, -∞< y < ∞, and -∞< z < ∞
Unit Vectors: 𝑖̂, 𝑗̂, 𝑘̂ are the unit vectors along x-, y-, and z-directions, respectively
and orthogonal to each other.
|𝑖̂| = |𝑗̂| = |𝑘̂ | = 1

𝑖̂. 𝑖̂ = 𝑗̂. 𝑗̂ = 𝑘̂ . 𝑘̂ = 1
𝑖̂. 𝑗̂ = 0, 𝑗̂. 𝑘̂ = 0, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑘̂. 𝑗̂ = 0
⃗⃗⃗
Line Element: The directed line segment connecting points P and Q be 𝑑𝑙
⃗⃗⃗
𝑑𝑙 = 𝑖̂𝑑𝑥 + 𝑗̂𝑑𝑦 + 𝑘̂𝑑𝑧

Area Elements: Imagine 3 mutually perpendicular plane surfaces through point P

and 3 mutually perpendicular surfaces through point Q. They form a small
rectangular parallelepiped or cube with edges
dx, dy, and dz.
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑑𝐴𝑥 = ±(𝑗̂𝑑𝑦 × 𝑘̂𝑑𝑧) = ±𝑖̂𝑑𝑦𝑑𝑧
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗𝑦 = ±(𝑘̂𝑑𝑧 × 𝑖̂𝑑𝑥) = ±𝑗̂𝑑𝑧𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝐴
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑑𝐴𝑧 = ±(𝑖̂𝑑𝑥 × 𝑗̂𝑑𝑦) = ±𝑘̂𝑑𝑥𝑑𝑦

Volume Element:

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 𝑑𝑉 = 𝑖̂𝑑𝑥. (𝑗̂𝑑𝑦 × 𝑘̂𝑑𝑧) = 𝑑𝑥𝑑𝑦𝑑𝑧
Example: The equation of a sphere of radius ‘a’ centred at
(x0, y0, z0) is
(𝑥 − 𝑥0 )2 + (𝑦 − 𝑦0 )2 + (𝑧 − 𝑧0 )2 = 𝑎2

(III) Plane Polar Coordinates (r, θ):

• To define polar coordinate, we first fix an origin ‘O’ (called pole) and initial
ray from ‘O’
• Then, each point P can be located by assigning it a polar coordinate pair (r,θ)
• Here, r gives the directed distance from O to P and θ gives the directed angle
from the initial ray to ray OP (polar angle)

• 𝑟 is the position vector of the particle relative to the origin O

𝑟 = 𝑖̂𝑥 + 𝑗̂𝑦
Magnitude |𝑟| = √𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2

• θ is positive when measured counter-clockwise

• θ is negative when measured clock-wise
• Range of Coordinates: 0 < r < ∞ and 0 < θ < 2π
• The angle associated with a given point is not unique
Example: The point P has two coordinates: (r = 2, θ = π/6) as well as (r = 2, θ =
-11π/6)

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Unit Vectors (𝑟̂ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝜃̂):
• 𝑟̂ and 𝜃̂ are along the direction of increasing r and θ, respectively
• They are orthogonal to each other i.e. 𝑟̂ . 𝜃̂ = 0
• As the radius vector rotates 𝑂𝑃
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ rotates, 𝑟̂ and 𝜃̂ change in direction. Thus, 𝑟̂ and
𝜃̂ are not constant unit vectors whereas 𝑖̂ and 𝑗̂ are constant unit vectors.
• 𝑟̂ and 𝜃̂ are functions of polar angle θ i.e. 𝑟̂ = 𝑟̂ (𝜃) and 𝜃̂ = 𝜃̂(𝜃)
• |𝑟̂ | = |𝜃̂| = 1
Negative value of r:

• Point P(2,7π/6) can be reached by turning 7π/6 rad counter-clockwise from

initial ray and going forward 2 units.
• It can also be reached by turning π/6 rad counter-clockwise from the initial
ray and going backward by 2 units i.e., P (-2, π/6)
Elementary Coordinate Equations and Inequalities:
(1) If we hold r fixed to a constant r = a ≠ 0, and vary θ from 0 to 2π, P (r, θ)
traces a circle of radius ‘a’ centred at ‘O’.

Polar equation of a circle is r = a.

(2) If we hold θ fixed to a constant θ = θ0 and vary r between -∞ and ∞, P (r,θ)
traces a line through O that makes an angle θ0 with the initial ray.

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 Polar equation of a line is θ = θ0
Cartesian (x, y) vs Polar (r, θ) Coordinates:
• When we use both polar and cartesian coordinates in a plane, we place the two
origins together and take the initial polar ray as the positive x-axis.
• The ray with θ = π/2 and r > 0 becomes the positive y-axis.

• The two coordinate systems are then related as

In the right-angle triangle ONP

x = r cosθ, y = r sinθ, x2 + y2 = r2, y/x = tan θ

Example: Find the polar equation for the circle x2 + (y-3)2 = 9

Solu.:
x2 + y2 + 9 – 6y = 9
x2 + y2 – 6y = 0
r2 – 6r sin θ = 0

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r = 0 or r – 6sin θ = 0

r = 6 sin θ

Relation between unit vectors (𝑟̂ , 𝜃̂) and (𝑖̂, 𝑗̂):

From the figure 𝑟̂ makes an angle θ and (90° - θ) with respect to X and Y axes,
respectively.
𝑟̂ = 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑖̂ + cos(90° − 𝜃) 𝑗̂ = 𝑖̂𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 + 𝑗̂𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃……. (A)
𝜃̂ makes an angle (90° + θ) and θ with respect to X and Y axes, respectively
𝜃̂ = cos(90° + 𝜃) 𝑖̂ + 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑗̂ = −𝑖̂𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 + 𝑗̂𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃……. (B)
Multiplying (A) by cosθ and (B) by sinθ and subtracting, one gets
𝑖̂𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜃 + 𝑗̂𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 + 𝑖̂𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝜃 − 𝑗̂𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 = 𝑟̂ 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 − 𝜃̂𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃
𝑖̂ = 𝑟̂ 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 − 𝜃̂𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃
Similarly, multiplying (A) by sinθ and (B) by cosθ and adding, one gets
𝑗̂ = 𝑟̂ 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 + 𝜃̂𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
Derivatives of 𝑟̂ and 𝜃̂ with respect to polar coordinates:
As shown above [Eq. (A) and (B)], 𝑟̂ and 𝜃̂ depend only on θ and independent
of r. Hence,
𝜕𝑟̂ 𝜕𝑟̂
= 0, = 𝑗̂ cos 𝜃 − 𝑖̂ sin 𝜃 = 𝜃̂
𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝜃
and
𝜕𝜃̂ 𝜕𝜃̂
= 0, = −𝑖̂ cos 𝜃 − 𝑗̂ sin 𝜃 = −𝑟̂
𝜕𝑟 𝜕𝜃

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Length Element and Area Element:
• Consider points P (r, θ) and Q (r+dr, θ+dθ)
• The directed line segment PQ represents the differential length element ⃗⃗⃗
𝑑𝑙
• ⃗⃗⃗
𝑑𝑙 = 𝑟̂ 𝑑𝑙𝑟 + 𝜃̂𝑑𝑙𝜃 (radial component + component along θ direction)

• Draw two circles of radius r and r+dr passing through P and Q, respectively
• Also draw two radial lines of length r and r+dr making angles θ and θ+dθ
with x-axis
• The enclosed area element is the rectangle PSQR of sides PS = RQ = dr and
QS = RP = rdθ
Then, 𝑑𝑙𝑟 = 𝑑𝑟 and 𝑑𝑙𝜃 = 𝑟𝑑𝜃
⃗⃗⃗ = 𝑟̂ 𝑑𝑟 + 𝜃̂𝑟𝑑𝜃
Hence, 𝑑𝑙

The infinitesimal area element PSQR,

⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ = ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑑𝐴 𝑑𝑙𝑟 × ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑑𝑙𝜃 = 𝑟̂ 𝑑𝑟 × 𝜃̂𝑟𝑑𝜃 = 𝑟̂ × 𝜃̂𝑟𝑑𝑟𝑑𝜃
 𝑑𝐴 ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ = 𝑛̂𝑟𝑑𝑟𝑑𝜃
where, 𝑛̂ is the unit vector perpendicular to the rθ-plane
Polar equation for lines:
• If P (r0, θ0) is the foot of the perpendicular from the origin to the line L and
r0 ≥ 0, then an equation for L is

𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝜃 − 𝜃0 ) = 𝑟0

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Polar equation for circles:
• Find the polar equation for the circle of radius ‘a’
centred at P0 (r0, θ0)
• Let P (r, θ) be a point on the circle
• Apply cosines law to triangle OP0P
𝑎2 = 𝑟02 + 𝑟 2 − 2𝑟0 𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝜃 − 𝜃0 ) ------ (1)
This is the equation of the circle

• If the circle passes through origin, then r0 = a and Eq. (1) reduces to
𝑎2 = 𝑎2 + 𝑟 2 − 2𝑎𝑟 cos(𝜃 − 𝜃0 )
𝑟 2 = 2𝑎𝑟 cos(𝜃 − 𝜃0 )
𝑟 = 2𝑎 cos(𝜃 − 𝜃0 )-------- (2)

• If the circle’s centre lies on the positive x-axis, θ0 = 0, Eq. (2) reduces to
𝑟 = 2𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃

• If the circle’s centre lies on the positive y-axis, θ = π/2, cos(θ-π/2) = sinθ,
Eq. (2) reduces to 𝑟 = 2𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃

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