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Next: Regions in cylindrical coordinates Up: Cylindrical Coordinates Previous: Cylindrical Coordinates

The coordinates

Cylindrical coordinates are a three dimensional version of polar coordinates. The variables here are $(r, \theta, z)$:



The relationship between cylindrical and Cartesian coordinates is

\begin{displaymath}
x = r \cos \theta, \quad y = r \sin \theta, \quad z = z,\end{displaymath}

to convert from cylindrical to Cartesian, and

\begin{displaymath}
r = \sqrt{x^2 + y^2}, \quad \theta = \arctan \left( \frac{y}{x} \right),
\quad z = z,\end{displaymath}

to convert from Cartesian to cylindrical. Note that this makes r the distance from the z-axis.

Using this, we see that r = r0 defines a cylinder of radius r0 centered on the z-axis.



The equation $\theta = \theta_0$ defines a plane through the z-axis.



The equation z = z0 defines a plane parallel to the xy-plane, passing through the point (0,0,z0).





Vector Calculus
8/20/1998