Math Is Fun Forum

simron

Real Member

Registered: 2006-10-07

Posts: 237

Polar Coordinates in 3D?

How would you do polar coordinates in 3D? Would you get something like (a°,b°,c) or (a,b,c°)?

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luca-deltodesco

Member

Registered: 2006-05-05

Posts: 1,470

Re: Polar Coordinates in 3D?

there are different common coordinate systems you can use, the most common being spherical and cylindrical.

Wikipedia has a good article on both:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_coordinates
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cylindrical_coordinates

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Ricky

Moderator

Registered: 2005-12-04

Posts: 3,791

Re: Polar Coordinates in 3D?

There are many different types of coordinates in 3d.  What I believe you're talking about is cylindrical coordinates.  With this, you have a radius r from the origin, the angle theta in the (typically) x-z plane, and the "height" z, which is the same z from Cartesian coordinates (x,y,z).  So basically, you just take polar coordinates (r, theta) and you tack on a z to make it (r, theta z).  Just search cylindrical coordinates for more information, or ask any questions here.

Another common coordinate system is spherical coordinates.

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