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Lesson 1: Vectors and Coordinate Systems

I. Position Vector

A. Definition:

Consider an object (a baseball for instance) which is located at

some arbitrary point in space (point P). We need to develop a way
of describing the location of the ball in terms of mathematics. The
method that physicists have developed is called the position
vector!!

The position vector for an object is the vector drawn from the
origin of a coordinate system to the location of the object.

r
In the drawing below, the position vector r (shown in green) is
drawn from the origin to the location of our baseball at point P.
 P
r
r

B. Is the position vector unique?

Since the position vector is defined mathematically in terms of a

coordinate system, it is not unique since the coordinate system is
not unique. For instance, John might specify the position of the
library (green arrow) with a coordinate system’s whose origin is
the science building while Susan specifies the position of the
library (blue arrow) with respect to the math building.

r
r¢
r
r P

r
R¢

Mathematically, these are two different ways of specifying the

same physical point in space (the location of the library). Thus,
these two mathematical descriptions must be related to each
other in some way. Such relationships are known in physics as
transformation equations and are very important. In this case, the
connection is simply the relationship for adding vectors. The
library’s position vector as given by Susan is the sum of John’s
position vector according to Susan (shown in red) and the library’s
position vector according to John.

r r r
r ¢ = R¢ + r

You might be inclined to remark that all of this is trivial and even
that it is a waist of time. All of this material should be review from
your introductory physics course. I encourage you to reject such
quick judgments and to reflect deeply upon each concept that we
study in this course. The reason that I have chosen to include this
material is to remind you of some very important physics and to
highlight the course goals. First, you should remember from your
introductory physics course that many other physics quantities are
derived from the position vector including displacement, velocity,
acceleration, linear momentum, angular momentum, etc. Thus,
the question of reference frames and transformation equations is
extremely important in physics. Secondly, a major reason for the
course is not to solve problems involving balls rolling down
inclined planes, but to develop an understanding of the way in
which physical systems can be represented in mathematics. By
learning to apply mathematics to mechanical systems where you
have some physical intuition, you build the skills needed for more
advanced physics courses (Relativity, Quantum Electrodynamics,
etc) where intuition based upon everyday experience will be of
little help.
V. Cylindrical Coordinate System

In this system, an arbitrary point in space such as point P show below

is defined by three coordinates (r, j, and z) as shown below.

P (r,j,z)
r
r
z
y
r
j

In the drawing, point P is on the surface of an imaginary cylinder of

radius r, height h, and with the projection of its position vector onto
the x-y plane at an angle j from the x-axis. You also used this
coordinate system in introductory physics to handle rotation problems.
However, you probably just memorized the results of the math like the
formula for centripetal acceleration instead of actually performing the
math operations!!

A. Unit Vectors

Following the procedure for our past work, we are going to define a
unit vector for each of the three coordinates. The first unit vector is
found by only allowing r to vary while keeping j and z constant. This
amounts to moving along the radius of the cylinder in the direction of
an increasing radius. The second unit vector is found by only allowing
j to vary while keeping r and z constant. This amounts to walking
counter clockwise around a circle. The third unit vector is found by
only allowing z to vary while keeping r and j constant. This amounts
to walking in the +z direction.

ρ̂ points in the + radial direction

 jˆ points in the direction of increasing angle j
k̂ points in the +z direction.

P (r,j,z)
r
r
k̂ jˆ
y

x ρ̂

Since the unit vectors ρ̂ and jˆ lie in the x-y plane and do not depend
on z, it is often useful to have the following additional diagram when
working out the Calculus:
y
jˆ

j
ρ̂
j
x

Using our knowledge of the dot product and components, we see that

ρ̂ = Cos(j ) î + Sin(j ) ĵ
jˆ = - Sin(j ) î + Cos(j ) ĵ

These are useful relations for doing the Calculus!!

B. Position Vector
In cylindrical coordinates, we can write the position vector in as the
sum of only two vectors:
r r r
r =ρ + Z

P (r,j,z)
r
r
r
Z= z k̂
y

j r
ρ = ρ ρ̂
x
Thus, we have the position vector in cylindrical coordinates as
r
r = ρ ρ̂ + z k̂

You might be surprised that there is no j component. This is just one

of many places where your intuition from Cartesian coordinates can
get you into trouble. Also, you should consider the fact that j is an
angle and not a distance. Thus, a component in the j direction would
also have the wrong units unless the term also contained either z or r.
C. Velocity Vector

We now use the definition of velocity to develop the relationship for

cylindrical coordinates.
r
r dr d
v = = ( ρρ̂ + z k̂ )
dt dt

r d d
v = ( ρρ̂ ) + ( z k̂ )
dt dt

r d d d d
v = ( ρ ) ρ̂ + ρ ( ρ̂ ) + ( z ) k̂ + z ( k̂)
dt dt dt dt

The unit vectors ( ρ̂ and jˆ ) are not constant since their direction
depends on the location of point P. Therefore, we will have to take
their derivatives!! We do this by replacing each unit vector with its
representation in Cartesian coordinates and then do the Calculus.
Starting with ρ̂ , we have

d d
( ρ̂ ) = [ Cos(j ) î + Sin (j ) ĵ ]
dt dt

d d d
( ρ̂ ) = [ Cos(j )] î + [ Sin (j ) ] ĵ
dt dt dt

d d d
( ρ̂ ) = - Sin(j ) [ j ] î + Cos (j ) [ j ] ĵ
dt dt dt

d d
( ρ̂ ) = [-Sin(j ) î + Cos (j ) ĵ ] [ j ]
dt dt

d
( ρ̂ ) = j& jˆ = ωjˆ
dt

The time rate of change of the angular position j was called the
angular velocity, w, for rotation problems in your introductory physics
course!!
We now calculate the time derivative of jˆ by the same procedure.
d d
( jˆ ) = [ - Sin(j ) î + Cos (j ) ĵ ]
dt dt

d d d
( jˆ ) = - [ Sin(j )] î + [ Cos (j ) ] ĵ
dt dt dt

d d d
( jˆ ) = - Cos(j ) [ j ] î - Sin (j ) [ j ] ĵ
dt dt dt

d d
( jˆ ) = - [Cos(j ) î + Sin (j ) ĵ ] [ j ]
dt dt

d
( jˆ ) = - j& ρ̂ = - ω ρ̂
dt

A graph of the unit vectors and their derivatives may help you
visualize the results. It also reminds you that the derivative of a vector
produces a vector tangent to the original vector!! The length of the
derivative vectors depend on the angular velocity. If there is no
rotation then the motion is in a plane and the derivatives of the unit
vectors are zero!! If the angular velocity is high then the magnitudes
of the derivatives of the unit vectors will be large and these terms will
dominate the velocity results.
y dρ̂
dt
jˆ

djˆ j
dt ρ̂
j
x
w

We are now ready to complete our relationship for the velocity of an

object in Cylindrical coordinates by substituting in our derivative
results and remembering that k̂ is constant.
 r d d
v = ( ρ ) ρ̂ + ρ j& jˆ + ( z ) k̂
dt dt
r
v = ρ& ρ̂ + ρ j& jˆ + z& k̂ = ρ& ρ̂ + ρ ωjˆ + z& k̂

Let us now consider our results. The first term is the radial velocity
component. The last term is the velocity component in the z-direction.
If we consider the special case of a particle traveling in a circle in the
x-y plane then both the first and third terms in the velocity
relationship are zero. Thus, an object moving in a circular path as in
your introductory physics course would have a velocity with a
component only in the jˆ direction with a magnitude of ρ ω . This is
just the tangential velocity from your introductory physics course!!
In other words, we have
r
v = v radial ρ̂ + v tangential jˆ + v z k̂

D. Acceleration Vector

We now use the definition of acceleration to develop the relationship

for cylindrical coordinates.
r
r dv d
a= = ( ρ& ρ̂ + ρj&jˆ + z& k̂ )
dt dt

r d d d
a = ( ρ& ρ̂) + (ρj&jˆ ) + (z& k̂ )
dt dt dt

r d d d d d d d
a = ( ρ& )ρ̂ + ρ& ( ρ̂) + (ρ)j&jˆ + ρ (j& )jˆ + ρj& (jˆ ) + (z& )k̂ + z& ( k̂ )
dt dt dt dt dt dt dt

Using our relationships for the time derivatives of the unit vectors, we
have
r
a = &ρ&ρ̂ + ρ& j&jˆ + ρ& j&jˆ + ρj&&jˆ + ρj& (-j& ρ̂) + &z& k̂
Rearranging and combining terms, we have that
r
a = ( &ρ& - ρj& 2 )ρ̂ + (2 ρ& j& + ρj&&)jˆ + &z& k̂

The z-component of the acceleration is just due to the change in the z-

component of the objects velocity as in the Cartesian coordinate
system. However, we see that there are two terms contributing to the
acceleration in both the radial and angular directions. The first term in
the radial direction occurs if the radial velocity of the object is
changing. The first term in the angular acceleration occurs if the
object has both angular and radial velocity.

To understand the two remaining terms, we again consider an object

moving in a circle in the x-y plane. In this case, r and z are constant
so &ρ& = ρ& = &z& = 0 . Thus, the acceleration becomes

r
a = - ρj& 2 ρ̂ + ρj&&jˆ = - ρω 2 ρ̂ + ρα jˆ

The radial term is the centripetal acceleration and the angular term is
the tangential acceleration of the object from introductory physics
class where α º j&& is the angular acceleration.