S. Widnall, J.

Peraire
16.07 Dynamics
Fall 2008
Version 2.0

Lecture L5 - Other Coordinate Systems

In this lecture, we will look at some other common systems of coordinates. We will present polar coordinates
in two dimensions and cylindrical and spherical coordinates in three dimensions. We shall see that these
systems are particularly useful for certain classes of problems.

Polar Coordinates (r )
In polar coordinates, the position of a particle A, is determined by the value of the radial distance to the
origin, r, and the angle that the radial line makes with an arbitrary xed line, such as the x axis. Thus, the
trajectory of a particle will be determined if we know r and as a function of t, i.e. r(t), (t). The directions
of increasing r and are dened by the orthogonal unit vectors er and e .

The position vector of a particle has a magnitude equal to the radial distance, and a direction determined
by er . Thus,
r = rer . (1)

Since the vectors er and e are clearly dierent from point to point, their variation will have to be considered

when calculating the velocity and acceleration.

Over an innitesimal interval of time dt, the coordinates of point A will change from (r, ), to (r + dr, + d)

as shown in the diagram.

1
We note that the vectors er and e do not change when the coordinate r changes. Thus, der /dr = 0 and
de /dr = 0. On the other hand, when changes to + d, the vectors er and e are rotated by an angle
d. From the diagram, we see that der = de , and that de = der . This is because their magnitudes in
the limit are equal to the unit vector as radius times d in radians. Dividing through by d, we have,

der de
= e , and = er .
d d

Multiplying these expressions by d/dt , we obtain,

der d der de
= e , and = er . (2)
d dt dt dt

Note Alternative calculation of the unit vector derivatives

An alternative, more mathematical, approach to obtaining the derivatives of the unit vectors is to express
er and e in terms of their cartesian components along i and j. We have that

er = cos i + sin j

e = sin i + cos j .

Therefore, when we dierentiate we obtain,

der der
= 0, = sin i + cos j e
dr d

de de

= 0, = cos i sin j er .
dr d

Velocity vector

We can now derive expression (1) with respect to time and write

v = r = r er + r er ,

or, using expression (2), we have

v = r er + r e . (3)

Here, vr = r is the radial velocity component, and v = r is the circumferential velocity component. We

also have that v = vr2 + v2 . The radial component is the rate at which r changes magnitude, or stretches,
and the circumferential component, is the rate at which r changes direction, or swings.

2
Acceleration vector

Dierentiating again with respect to time, we obtain the acceleration

a = v = r er + r er + r e + r e + r e

Using the expressions (2), we obtain,

a = (r r2 ) er + (r + 2r) e , (4)

where ar = (r r2 ) is the radial acceleration component, and a = (r + 2r) is the circumferential

acceleration component. Also, we have that a = a2r + a2 .

Change of basis

In many practical situations, it will be necessary to transform the vectors expressed in polar coordinates to
cartesian coordinates and vice versa.

Since we are dealing with free vectors, we can translate the polar reference frame for a given point (r, ), to
the origin, and apply a standard change of basis procedure. This will give, for a generic vector A,

Ar cos sin Ax Ax cos sin Ar
= and = .
A sin cos Ay Ay sin cos A

Example Circular motion

Consider as an illustration, the motion of a particle in a circular trajectory having angular velocity = ,
and angular acceleration = .

3
In polar coordinates, the equation of the trajectory is
1
r = R = constant, = t + t2 .
2
The velocity components are

vr = r = 0, and v = r = R( + t) = v ,

and the acceleration components are,

v2
ar = r r2 = R( + t)2 = , and a = r + 2r = R = at ,
R
where we clearly see that, ar an , and that a at .
In cartesian coordinates, we have for the trajectory,
1 1
x = R cos(t + t2 ), y = R sin(t + t2 ) .
2 2
For the velocity,
1 1
vx = R( + t) sin(t + t2 ), vy = R( + t) cos(t + t2 ) ,
2 2
and, for the acceleration,
1 1 1 1
ax = R(+t)2 cos(t+ t2 )R sin(t+ t2 ), ay = R(+t)2 sin(t+ t2 )+R cos(t+ t2 ) .
2 2 2 2
We observe that, for this problem, the result is much simpler when expressed in polar (or intrinsic) coordi
nates.

Example Motion on a straight line

Here we consider the problem of a particle moving with constant velocity v0 , along a horizontal line y = y0 .

Assuming that at t = 0 the particle is at x = 0, the trajectory and velocity components in cartesian
coordinates are simply,

x = v0 t y = y0

vx = v0 vy = 0

ax = 0 ay = 0 .

4
In polar coordinates, we have,
y0

r= v02 t2 + y02 = tan1 ( )
v0 t
vr = r = v0 cos v = r = v0 sin

ar = r r2 = 0 a = r + 2r = 0 .

Here, we see that the expressions obtained in cartesian coordinates are simpler than those obtained using
polar coordinates. It is also reassuring that the acceleration in both the r and direction, calculated from
the general two-term expression in polar coordinates, works out to be zero as it must for constant velocity-
straight line motion.

Example Spiral motion (Kelppner/Kolenkow)

A particle moves with = = constant and r = r0 et , where r0 and are constants.

We shall show that for certain values of , the particle moves with ar = 0.

a = (r r2 )er + (r + 2r)e

= ( 2 r0 et r0 et 2 )er + 2r0 et e

If = , the radial part of a vanishes. It seems quite surprising that when r = r0 et , the particle moves
with zero radial acceleration. The error is in thinking that r makes the only contribution to ar ; the term
r2 is also part of the radial acceleration, and cannot be neglected.
The paradox is that even though ar = 0, the radial velocity vr = r = r0 et is increasing rapidly in time.
In polar coordinates

vr = ar (t)dt ,

because this integral does not take into account the fact that er and e are functions of time.

5
Equations of Motion

In two dimensional polar r coordinates, the force and acceleration vectors are F = Fr er + F e and
a = ar er + a e . Thus, in component form, we have,

Fr = m ar = m (r r2 )

F = m a = m (r + 2r) .

Cylindrical Coordinates (r z)
Polar coordinates can be extended to three dimensions in a very straightforward manner. We simply add
the z coordinate, which is then treated in a cartesian like manner. Every point in space is determined by
the r and coordinates of its projection in the xy plane, and its z coordinate.

The unit vectors er , e and k, expressed in cartesian coordinates, are,

er = cos i + sin j

e = sin i + cos j

and their derivatives,

er = e , e = er , k = 0 .

The kinematic vectors can now be expressed relative to the unit vectors er , e and k. Thus, the position
vector is
r = r er + z k ,

and the velocity,

v = r er + r e + z k ,

where vr = r, v = r, vz = z, and v = vr2 + v2 + vz2 . Finally, the acceleration becomes

a = (r r2 ) er + (r + 2r) e + zk ,

where ar = r r2 , a = r + 2r, az = z, and a =

a2r + a2 + az2 .

6
Note that when using cylindrical coordinates, r is not the modulus of r. This is somewhat confusing, but it
is consistent with the notation used by most books. Whenever we use cylindrical coordinates, we will write

|r| explicitly, to indicate the modulus of r, i.e. |r| = r2 + z 2 .

Equations of Motion

In cylindrical rz coordinates, the force and acceleration vectors are F = Fr er + F e + Fz ez and a =

ar er + a e + az ez . Thus, in component form we have,

Fr = m ar = m (r r2 )

F = m a = m (r + 2r)

Fz = m az = m z .

Spherical Coordinates (r )
In spherical coordinates, we utilize two angles and a distance to specify the position of a particle, as in the
case of radar measurements, for example.

The unit vectors written in cartesian coordinates are,

er = cos cos i + sin cos j + sin k

e = sin i + cos j

e = cos sin i sin sin j + cos k

The derivation of expressions for the velocity and acceleration follow easily once the derivatives of the unit
vectors are known. In three dimensions, the geometry is somewhat more involved, but the ideas are the
same. Here, we give the results for the derivatives of the unit vectors,

er = cos e + e , e = cos er + sin e , e = er sin e ,

7
and for the kinematic vectors

r = r er

v = rer + r cos e + r e

a = (r r2 cos2 r2 ) er

+ (2r cos + r cos 2r sin ) e

+ (2r + r2 sin cos + r) e .

Equations of Motion

Finally, in spherical r coordinates, we write F = Fr er + F e + F e and a = ar er + a e + a e . Thus,

Fr = m ar = m (r r2 cos2 r2 )

F = m a = m (2r cos + r cos 2r sin )

F = m a = m (2r + r2 sin cos + r) .

Application Examples

We will look at some applications of Newtons second law, expressed in the dierent coordinate systems that
have been introduced. Recall that Newtons second law

F = ma , (5)

is a vector equation which is valid for inertial observers.

In general, we will be interested in determining the motion of a particle given that we know the external
forces. Equation (5), written in terms of either velocity or position, is a dierential equation. In order
to calculate the velocity and position as a function of time we will need to integrate this equation either
analytically or numerically. On the other hand, the reverse problem of computing the forces given motion is
much easier and only requires direct evaluation of (5). Is is also common to have mixed type problems, in
which we know some components of the force and some components of the acceleration. The goal is then to
determine the remaining unknown terms.
While no general rules can be given regarding the appropriate choice of a coordinate system, we note
that intrinsic coordinates are particularly useful in constrained problems, where the trajectory is known
beforehand.

Example Aircraft ying on a helix

A 10, 000 lb aircraft is descending on a cylindrical helix. The rate of descent is z = 10ft/s, the speed is
v = 211 ft/s, and = 3o 0.05rad/s. This is standard for gas turbine powered aircraft. We want to know
the force on the aircraft and the radius of curvature of the path.

8
We have,
v = rer + re + zez = vet

Since, r = R, r = 0. Therefore, 211 = (0.05R)2 + 102 , or R = 4, 215 ft. For the acceleration,

v2
a = (r r2 )er + (r + 2r)e + zez = vet + en ,

and, considering only the non-zero terms,

v2
a = R2 er = en .

We see that en = er , and that,

2 v2 211
a = (0.05)2 4, 215 = 10.54 ft/s = , = = 4, 225 ft .
10.54

The normal force on the aircraft is

10, 000
Fn = man = 10.54 = 3, 273 lb ,
32

and nally, the lift, L, is

L = 3, 273 er + 10, 000 ez lb .

Here we see that r which means that the helix is very tight.

9
The angle of descent is calculated as sin = z/v,
or, = 2.72o . This angle is sometimes called the
pitch of the helix.

Example Pendulum

Now, we consider a simple pendulum consisting of a mass, m, suspended from a string of length l and
negligible mass.

We can formulate the problem in polar coordinates, and noting that r = l (constant), write for the r and
components,

mg cos T = ml2

mg sin = ml , (6)

where T is the tension on the string. If we restrict the motion to small oscillations, we can approximate
sin , and the -equation becomes
g
+ = 0 .
l
Integrating we obtain the general solution,

g g
(t) = C1 cos( t) + C2 sin( t) ,
l l

where the constants C1 and C2 are determined by the initial conditions. Thus, if (0) = max ,

g
(t) = max cos( t) .
l

10
Example Aircraft ying a perfect loop (Hollister)

Consider an aircraft ying a perfect loop, i.e. a circle in the vertical plane. Assume that the engine thrust
exactly cancels the aerodynamic drag so that the lift and gravity are the only unbalanced forces on the
aircraft. This assumption makes the problem into the same dynamical model that we have used in the
previous example.

Since the lift, L, is perpendicular to the ight path, we have that the force on the aircraft, in normal and
tangential components, is
F = mg sin et + (L mg cos ) en .

Thus,

at = v = r = g sin
v2 L
an = = g cos . (7)
R m
Since, v dv = at ds = at R d = Rg sin d. Thus, integrating,

v 2 = v02 + 2Rg(cos 1) , (8)

where v0 is the velocity at the bottom of the loop when = 0. To be able to go over the top we need v > 0

when = . This means that we need v0 > 2 Rg.

Note that for v0 < 2 Rg, we can calculate the maximum angle the aircraft can reach, max . If we set v = 0
when = max , we have,
v02
max = cos1 (1 ).
2Rg
The necessary lift, L, can be calculated as a function of . From (7) and (8), we have
L v2 v2
= + g cos = 0 + 3g cos 2g .
m R R
We have that, in order for to go from 0 to , the aircraft has to have a range of lift capability that extends

over 5g.

It turns out that most aircraft do not have this capability and consequently do not y perfect loops.

11
 ADDITIONAL READING
J.L. Meriam and L.G. Kraige, Engineering Mechanics, DYNAMICS, 5th Edition
2/6, 2/7, 3/5

12
MIT OpenCourseWare
http://ocw.mit.edu

16.07 Dynamics
Fall 2009

For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/terms.