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How to Convert to Spherical Coordinates

Engineers and scientists are fond of symmetry. Of course symmetric objects have an inherent balance that some find pleasing to the eye, but that's not why they like symmetry. Symmetrical situations lend themselves to easier solutions --- and often those solutions have greater significance because of their symmetry. The first step to exploiting the symmetry of a problem is to select the appropriate coordinate system. For problems with spherical symmetry, like a rotating ball or satellites in orbit around a planet, spherical coordinates are the natural choice.

Things You'll Need

  • Means to perform calculations
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Instructions

    • 1

      Define the convention for the spherical coordinates you will use. There is no overarching standard, but physicists often define the angle theta measured down from the positive z axis and the angle phi as measured from the positive x-axis towards the y-axis in the x-y plane. R is the distance from the origin.

    • 2

      Identify the cartesian coordinates to transform. That is, find a point represented by x, y, and z values that you wish to represent in spherical coordinates. The general transformations will work for all values of x, y, and z.

      As an example, take x = 3, y = 7, z = 4.

    • 3

      Calculate R.

      R = square root ( x^2 + y^2 + z^2 ).

      For the example, R = square root (9 + 49 + 16) = square root (74) = 8.6

    • 4

      Calculate theta.

      Theta = arcsin (square root( ( x^2 + y^2 ) / ( x^2 + y^2 +z^2 ) ).

      Arcsin is the inverse sine function, found on all scientific or mathematical calculators.

      Continuing the example,

      theta = arcsin (square root ((49 + 9) / (9 + 49 + 16))

      theta = arcsin (square root (0.784)) = arcsin (0.885)

      theta = 62.3 degrees.

    • 5

      Calculate phi.

      Phi = arctan ( y / x ).

      Finishing the example, phi = arctan ( 7 / 3 ) = 66.8 degrees.

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