Spherical coordinate system

nal to the zenith, measured from a xed reference direction on that plane.

(r, , )

The radial distance is also called the radius or radial

coordinate. The polar angle may be called co-latitude,
zenith angle, normal angle, or inclination angle.

The use of symbols and the order of the coordinates differs between sources. In one system frequently encountered in physics (r, , ) gives the radial distance, polar
angle, and azimuthal angle, whereas in another system
used in many mathematics books (r, , ) gives the radial distance, azimuthal angle, and polar angle. In both
systems is often used instead of r. Other conventions
are also used, so great care needs to be taken to check
which one is being used.

A number of dierent spherical coordinate systems following other conventions are used outside mathematics.
Spherical coordinates (r, , ) as commonly used in physics: ra- In a geographical coordinate system positions are meadial distance r, polar angle (theta), and azimuthal angle sured in latitude, longitude and height or altitude. There
(phi). The symbol (rho) is often used instead of r.
are a number of dierent celestial coordinate systems
based on dierent fundamental planes and with dierent terms for the various coordinates. The spherical
coordinate systems used in mathematics normally use
radians rather than degrees and measure the azimuthal
angle counter-clockwise rather than clockwise. The inclination angle is often replaced by the elevation angle
measured from the reference plane. Elevation angle of
zero is at the horizon.

(r, , )

The concept of spherical coordinates can be extended

to higher-dimensional spaces and are then referred to as
hyperspherical coordinates.

1 Denition

To dene a spherical coordinate system, one must choose

two orthogonal directions, the zenith and the azimuth reference, and an origin point in space. These choices deSpherical coordinates (r, , ) as often used in mathematics:
termine a reference plane that contains the origin and is
radial distance r, azimuthal angle , and polar angle . The
perpendicular to the zenith. The spherical coordinates of
meanings of and have been swapped compared to the physics
a point P are then dened as follows:
convention.

The radius or radial distance is the Euclidean distance from the origin O to P.

In mathematics, a spherical coordinate system is a

coordinate system for three-dimensional space where the
position of a point is specied by three numbers: the radial distance of that point from a xed origin, its polar angle measured from a xed zenith direction, and the
azimuth angle of its orthogonal projection on a reference plane that passes through the origin and is orthogo-

The inclination (or polar angle) is the angle between

the zenith direction and the line segment OP.
The azimuth (or azimuthal angle) is the signed angle
measured from the azimuth reference direction to
1

2 APPLICATIONS

the orthogonal projection of the line segment OP on nates. One can add or subtract any number of full turns to
the reference plane.
either angular measure without changing the angles themselves, and therefore without changing the point. It is also
The sign of the azimuth is determined by choosing what is convenient, in many contexts, to allow negative radial disa positive sense of turning about the zenith. This choice is tances, with the convention that (r, , ) is equivalent to
arbitrary, and is part of the coordinate systems denition. (r, + 180, ) for any r, , and . Moreover, (r, , )
is equivalent to (r, , + 180).
The elevation angle is 90 degrees (/2 radians) minus the
If it is necessary to dene a unique set of spherical coorinclination angle.
dinates for each point, one may restrict their ranges. A
If the inclination is zero or 180 degrees ( radians), the common choice is:
azimuth is arbitrary. If the radius is zero, both azimuth
and inclination are arbitrary.
r0
In linear algebra, the vector from the origin O to the point
0 180 ( rad)
P is often called the position vector of P.
0 < 360 (2 rad)

1.1

Conventions

1.2

Unique coordinates

However, the azimuth is often restricted to the interval

(180, +180], or (, +] in radians, instead of [0,
Several dierent conventions exist for representing the 360). This is the standard convention for geographic
three coordinates, and for the order in which they should longitude.
be written. The use of (r, , ) to denote radial distance,
inclination (or elevation), and azimuth, respectively, is The range [0, 180] for inclination is equivalent to [90,
common practice in physics, and is specied by ISO stan- +90] for elevation (latitude).
dard 80000-2 :2009, and earlier in ISO 31-11 (1992).
Even with these restrictions, if is zero or 180 (elevation
However, some authors (including mathematicians) use is 90 or 90) then the azimuth angle is arbitrary; and if
for inclination (or elevation) and for azimuth, which r is zero, both azimuth and inclination/elevation are arbiprovides a logical extension of the usual polar coordi- trary. To make the coordinates unique, one can use the
nates notation.[1] Some authors may also list the azimuth convention that in these cases the arbitrary coordinates
before the inclination (or elevation), and/or use (rho) in- are zero.
stead of r for radial distance. Some combinations of these
choices result in a left-handed coordinate system. The
standard convention (r, , ) conicts with the usual no- 1.3 Plotting
tation for the two-dimensional polar coordinates, where
is often used for the azimuth. It may also conict with To plot a dot from its spherical coordinates (r, , ),
the notation used for three-dimensional cylindrical coor- where is inclination, move r units from the origin in
the zenith direction, rotate by about the origin towards
dinates. [1]
the azimuth reference direction, and rotate by about the
The angles are typically measured in degrees () or zenith in the proper direction.
radians (rad), where 360 = 2 rad. Degrees are
most common in geography, astronomy, and engineering,
whereas radians are commonly used in mathematics and
2 Applications
theoretical physics. The unit for radial distance is usually
determined by the context.
The geographic coordinate system uses the azimuth and
When the system is used for physical three-space, it is
elevation of the spherical coordinate system to express
customary to use positive sign for azimuth angles that are
locations on Earth, calling them respectively longitude
measured in the counter-clockwise sense from the referand latitude. Just as the two-dimensional Cartesian coence direction on the reference plane, as seen from the
ordinate system is useful on the plane, a two-dimensional
zenith side of the plane. This convention is used, in parspherical coordinate system is useful on the surface of a
ticular, for geographical coordinates, where the zenith
sphere. In this system, the sphere is taken as a unit sphere,
direction is north and positive azimuth (longitude) angles
so the radius is unity and can generally be ignored. This
are measured eastwards from some prime meridian.
simplication can also be very useful when dealing with
objects such as rotational matrices.
Spherical coordinates are useful in analyzing systems that
have some degree of symmetry about a point, such as
Any spherical coordinate triplet (r, , ) species a single volume integrals inside a sphere, the potential energy
point of three-dimensional space. On the other hand, ev- eld surrounding a concentrated mass or charge, or global
ery point has innitely many equivalent spherical coordi- weather simulation in a planets atmosphere. A sphere

2.2

In astronomy

that has the Cartesian equation x2 + y2 + z2 = c2 has the , or geodetic latitude, measured by the observers
simple equation r = c in spherical coordinates.
local vertical, and commonly designated . The azimuth
Two important partial dierential equations that arise angle (longitude), commonly denoted by , is measured
in many physical problems, Laplaces equation and the in degrees east or west from some conventional reference
Helmholtz equation, allow a separation of variables in meridian (most commonly the IERS Reference Meridspherical coordinates. The angular portions of the solu- ian), so its domain is 180 180. For positions
tions to such equations take the form of spherical harmon- on the Earth or other solid celestial body, the reference
plane is usually taken to be the plane perpendicular to the
ics.
axis of rotation.
Another application is ergonomic design, where r is the
arm length of a stationary person and the angles describe The polar angle, which is 90 minus the latitude and
ranges from 0 to 180, is called colatitude in geography.
the direction of the arm as it reaches out.
Instead of the radial distance, geographers commonly use
altitude above some reference surface, which may be the
sea level or mean surface level for planets without liquid
oceans. The radial distance r can be computed from the
altitude by adding the mean radius of the planets reference surface, which is approximately 6,360 11 km for
Earth.
However, modern geographical coordinate systems are
quite complex, and the positions implied by these simple formulae may be wrong by several kilometers. The
precise standard meanings of latitude, longitude and altitude are currently dened by the World Geodetic System
(WGS), and take into account the attening of the Earth
at the poles (about 21 km) and many other details.

2.2 In astronomy
In astronomy there are a series of spherical coordinate
systems that measure the elevation angle from dierent fundamental planes. These reference planes are the
observers horizon, the celestial equator (dened by the
Earths rotation), the plane of the ecliptic (dened by
Earths orbit around the sun), and the galactic equator (dened by the rotation of the galaxy).
The output pattern of an industrial loudspeaker shown using
spherical polar plots taken at six frequencies

Three dimensional modeling of loudspeaker output patterns can be used to predict their performance. A number of polar plots are required, taken at a wide selection
of frequencies, as the pattern changes greatly with frequency. Polar plots help to show that many loudspeakers
tend toward omnidirectionality at lower frequencies.

3 Coordinate system conversions

As the spherical coordinate system is only one of many
three-dimensional coordinate systems, there exist equations for converting coordinates between the spherical coordinate system and others.

The spherical coordinate system is also commonly used

in 3D game development to rotate the camera around the 3.1 Cartesian coordinates
players position.
The spherical coordinates of a point in the ISO convention
(radius r, inclination , azimuth ) can be obtained from
its Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z) by the formulae
2.1 In geography
To a rst approximation, the geographic coordinate sys
tem uses elevation angle (latitude) in degrees north of the r = x2 + y 2 + z 2
)
(
equator plane, in the range 90 90, instead of inz
clination. Latitude is either geocentric latitude, measured = arccos
at the Earths center and designated variously by , q, ,
x2 + y 2 + z 2

= arctan

INTEGRATION AND DIFFERENTIATION IN SPHERICAL COORDINATES

(y)

4 Integration and dierentiation in

x
spherical coordinates
The inverse tangent denoted in = arctan(y/x) must be
suitably dened, taking into account the correct quadrant
of (x,y). See the article on atan2.
The following equations assume that is inclination from
Alternatively, the conversion can be considered as two the z (polar) axis (ambiguous since x, y, and z are mutually
sequential rectangular to polar conversions: the rst in normal):
the Cartesian xy plane from (x,y) to (R,), where R is The line element for an innitesimal displacement from
the projection of r onto the xy plane, and the second in (r, , ) to (r + dr, + d, + d) is
the Cartesian zR plane from (z,R) to (r,). The correct
quadrants for and are implied by the correctness of
the planar rectangular to polar conversions.
dr = dr r + r d + r sin d .

These formulae assume that the two systems have the

where
same origin, that the spherical reference plane is the
Cartesian xy plane, that is inclination from the z direction, and that the azimuth angles are measured from

+ sin() sin()
+ cos()k
the Cartesian x axis (so that the y axis has = +90). If r = sin() cos()
measures elevation from the reference plane instead of = cos() cos()

+ cos() sin()
sin()k
inclination from the zenith the arccos above becomes an

= sin()
+ cos()

arcsin, and the cos and sin below become switched.

Conversely, the Cartesian coordinates may be retrieved are the local orthogonal unit vectors in the directions of
are the unit
, , k
from the spherical coordinates (radius r, inclination , az- increasing r, , , respectively, and
vectors in cartesian space.
imuth ), where r [0, ), [0, ], [0, 2), by:
The surface element spanning from to + d and to
+ d on a spherical surface at (constant) radius r is

x = r sin cos
y = r sin sin

dSr = r2 sin d d.

z = r cos

Thus the dierential solid angle is

3.2

Cylindrical coordinates

Main article: Cylindrical coordinate system

d =

dSr
= sin d d.
r2

The surface element in a surface of polar angle constant

Cylindrical coordinates (radius , azimuth , elevation z)
(a cone with vertex the origin) is
may be converted into spherical coordinates (radius r, inclination , azimuth ), by the formulas

r=

dS = r sin d dr.
2

z2

= arctan(/z) = arccos

2
+ z2

The surface element in a surface of azimuth constant (a

vertical half-plane) is

dS = r dr d.
Conversely, the spherical coordinates may be converted
into cylindrical coordinates by the formulae
The volume element spanning from r to r + dr , to
+ d , and to + d is
= r sin
=
z = r cos

dV = r2 sin dr d d.

Thus, for example, a function f (r, , ) can be integrated

These formulae assume that the two systems have the over every point in R3 by the triple integral
same origin and same reference plane, measure the azimuth angle in the same sense from the same axis, and
2
that the spherical angle is inclination from the cylindrif (r, , )r2 sin dr d d.
cal z axis.
=0 =0 r=0

5
The del operator in this system leads to the following expressions for gradient, divergence and curl:

f =

Euler angles
Gimbal lock
Hypersphere

f
1 f
1 f
r +
+
,

r
r
r sin

Jacobian matrix and determinant

1 ( 2 )
1
1 A List of canonical coordinate transformations
r Ar +
(sin A ) +
,
2
r r
r sin
r sin
Sphere
(
)
1

A
A=
(A sin )
r
Spherical harmonic
r sin

Theodolite
)
(
1

1 Ar

(rA )
Vector elds in cylindrical and spherical coordinates
r sin
r
A=

1
+
r

1
f= 2
r r

(
=

Ar
(rA )
r

2 f

2
2
+
2
r
r r

Yaw, pitch and roll

+ 2
r sin

f+ 2
r sin

f
sin

)
+

8 Bibliography

In spherical coordinates the position of a point is written

Morse PM, Feshbach H (1953). Methods of Theoretical Physics, Part I. New York: McGraw-Hill. p.
658. ISBN 0-07-043316-X. LCCN 52011515.
Margenau H, Murphy GM (1956). The Mathematics
of Physics and Chemistry. New York: D. van Nostrand. pp. 177178. LCCN 55010911.

r = r^
r.
Its velocity is then

Korn GA, Korn TM (1961). Mathematical Handbook for Scientists and Engineers. New York:
McGraw-Hill. pp. 174175. LCCN 59014456.
ASIN B0000CKZX7.

v = r^
r + r + r sin ,

and its acceleration is

(
)
a = r r 2 r 2 sin2 ^
r
(
)
+ r + 2r r 2 sin cos
(
)
+ r sin + 2r sin + 2r cos .

r2 sin2 2

(2005-10-26). Spherical Coordi(

) [1] Eric W. Weisstein
2

1
nates.
MathWorld.
Retrieved 2010-01-15.
sin
f+ 2 2
f.
2

r sin

Kinematics

In the case of a constant or =

vector calculus in polar coordinates.

2f
7 1 Notes

, this reduces to

See also

Sauer R, Szab I (1967). Mathematische Hilfsmittel

des Ingenieurs. New York: Springer Verlag. pp. 95
96. LCCN 67025285.
Moon P, Spencer DE (1988). Spherical Coordinates (r, , )". Field Theory Handbook, Including Coordinate Systems, Dierential Equations, and
Their Solutions (corrected 2nd ed., 3rd print ed.).
New York: Springer-Verlag. pp. 2427 (Table
1.05). ISBN 978-0-387-18430-2.

9 External links

Del in cylindrical and spherical coordinates

Hazewinkel, Michiel, ed. (2001), Spherical coordinates, Encyclopedia of Mathematics, Springer,

ISBN 978-1-55608-010-4

Elevation (ballistics)

MathWorld description of spherical coordinates

Celestial coordinate system

9
Coordinate Converter converts between polar,
Cartesian and spherical coordinates
Spherical Coordinates Animations illustrating
spherical coordinates by Frank Wattenberg
Conventions for Spherical Coordinates Description
of the dierent conventions in use for naming components of spherical coordinates, along with a proposal for standardizing this.

EXTERNAL LINKS

10
10.1

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