Lecture 4

Chapter 2: Particle Kinematics

Rectangular Cartesian Coordinates
The path-variable description is an intrinsic coordinate formulation because it relies on
knowledge of the path for the definition of the unit vectors and of the position. In what follows,
we consider extrinsic coordinate systems, in which these properties are defined in a manner
that is independent of the path.
The simplest set of extrinsic coordinates is rectangular Cartesian coordinates. These are
associated with orthogonal xyz axes that are right-handed by convention. Situations where such
coordinates might be suitable are recognizable by the fact that vectors (position, velocity, etc.)
are described in terms of components with respect to fixed directions, such as left-right and up-
down. As shown in figure, the components of the position vector are merely the (x, y, z)
coordinates projected onto the coordinate axes. These coordinates may all be functions of time,
so the position is given by:
𝑟̅𝑃/𝑂 = 𝑥(𝑡)𝑖̅ + 𝑦(𝑡)𝑗̅ + 𝑧(𝑡)𝑘̅ (1)
Velocity (the time derivative unit vectors of the rectangular coordinates are zero):
𝑣̅ = 𝑣𝑥 𝑖̅ + 𝑣𝑦 𝑗̅ + 𝑣𝑧 𝑘̅ (2)
𝑣𝑥 = 𝑥̇ , 𝑣𝑦 = 𝑦̇ , 𝑣𝑧 = 𝑧̇
Acceleration
𝑎̅ = 𝑎𝑥 𝑖̅ + 𝑎𝑦 𝑗̅ + 𝑎𝑧 𝑘̅ (3)
𝑎𝑥 = 𝑥̈ , 𝑎𝑦 = 𝑦̈ , 𝑎𝑧 = 𝑧̈

A notable feature of these relations is the uncoupled nature of the motions in the x, y, and z
directions. In other words, none of the motion parameters for one direction appear in the other
components. One way of regarding this result conceptually is to think of it as a superposition
of rectilinear (i.e. straight-line) motions in each of the coordinate directions. (One should not
infer from this observation that the motions in the three directions are independent. For
example, the acceleration component in one direction might be a function of another
coordinate).
The most common involves projectile motion near the earth's surface. In that case the force of
gravity is considered to be in the downward vertical direction, which means that the
acceleration is always downward. Even this case breaks down when one wishes to treat the
motion more accurately. For example, should one desire to account for air resistance, the
resistance force is always opposite the velocity. Such a force is readily described in path
variables as −𝑓𝑒̅𝑡 . The description of projectile motion in terms of Cartesian coordinates also

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encounters difficulty when the motion covers a long range, as with ballistic missiles. Then the
gravitational force is always directed toward a fixed point, rather than having a fixed direction.
A kinematical description using curvilinear coordinates is more suitable for this type of
problem.
Cylindrical Coordinates
In cylindrical coordinates, we select one of the Cartesian coordinate axes as a reference. We
then locate a point by perpendicularly projecting its position onto the coordinate plane formed
by the other two axes and onto the reference axis. Without loss of generality, let z be the
reference axis. The corresponding construction is illustrated in the figure. The distance from
the origin to the z axis is the transverse distance R, and the distance from the point to the xy
plane is the axial distance z. It still remains to locate the plane formed by the axial and
transverse lines, for which we use the angle θ representing the rotation of the plane about the
reference axis. This angle is historically (related to telescopes) called the azimuthal angle. To
avoid ambiguity when it is necessary to select a value of θ corresponding to a specified position
we shall limit the azimuthal angle range to −π < θ ≤ π. In the figure, θ = 0 places the shaded
plane at the xz plane, and θ is measured counterclockwise looking down the z axis, but neither
convention is mandatory.

The values of (R, θ, z) are the cylindrical coordinates. By themselves, R and θ are polar
coordinates. They locate the point in the xy plane, whereas the value of z tells us how far the
point is from that plane. Geometrical constructions show the transformation from (R, θ, z) to
(x, y, z) to be
𝑥 = 𝑅 cos 𝜃, 𝑦 = 𝑅 sin 𝜃, 𝑧 = 𝑧 (4)
The set of cylindrical coordinate unit vectors is depicted in the Figure. We note that the sense
of the unit vectors is always defined according to the sense of increasing coordinate values.
The unit vectors we have defined form a right-handed set according to 𝑒̅𝑅 = 𝑒̅𝜃 × 𝑒̅𝑧 .
The unit vectors may be described in terms of components 𝑖̅, 𝑗̅, and 𝑘̅ by projecting them onto
the xy plane
𝑒̅𝑅 = cos 𝜃 𝑖̅ + sin 𝜃 𝑗̅, 𝑒̅𝜃 = −sin 𝜃 𝑖̅ + cos 𝜃 𝑗̅ and 𝑒̅𝑧 = 𝑘̅ (5)
As shown in the figure, position vector could be expressed in terms of unit vectors of cylindrical
coordinates:
𝑟̅𝑝/𝑜 = 𝑅𝑒̅𝑅 + 𝑧𝑘̅ (6)

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It might seem that 𝑟̅𝑝/𝑜 does not depend on θ. However, the value of θ must be known in
order to define the instantaneous orientation of 𝑒̅𝑅 . Differentiation of equation (6) with
respect to time yields the velocity:
𝑣̅ = 𝑟̇𝑃/𝑂 = 𝑅̇ 𝑒̅𝑅 + 𝑅𝑒̅̇𝑅 + 𝑧̇ 𝑘̅ (7)
Now, we need to determine the time derivative of the unit vector, that is 𝑒̅̇𝑅 . To this end we
employ equation (5):
𝑒̅̇𝑅 = −𝜃̇ sin 𝜃 𝑖̅ + 𝜃̇ cos 𝜃 𝑗̅ = 𝜃̇ (−sin 𝜃 𝑖̅ + cos 𝜃 𝑗̅) = 𝜃̇𝑒𝜃̅ (8a)
Similarly, we may obtain 𝑒̅̇𝜃
𝑒̅̇𝜃 = −𝜃̇ cos 𝜃 𝑖̅ − 𝜃̇ sin 𝜃 𝑗̅ = −𝜃̇(cos 𝜃 𝑖̅ + sin 𝜃 𝑗̅) = −𝜃̇𝑒𝜃̅ (8b)
Substituting (8a) into (7) results in the velocity
𝑣̅ = 𝑅̇ 𝑒̅𝑅 + 𝑅𝜃̇𝑒𝜃̅ + 𝑧̇ 𝑘̅ (9)
Taking another time derivative, we obtain the acceleration of the particle
𝑎̅ = 𝑣̅̇ = 𝑅̈ 𝑒̅𝑅 + 𝑅̇ 𝑒̅̇𝑅 + (𝑅𝜃̈ + 𝑅̇ 𝜃̇)𝑒̅𝜃 + 𝑅𝜃̇𝑒̇𝜃̅ + 𝑧̈ 𝑘̅ (10)
Next, we substitute equations (8a) and (8b) into (10)
𝑎̅ =(𝑅̈ − 𝑅𝜃̇ 2 )𝑒̅𝑅 + (𝑅𝜃̈ + 2 𝑅̇ 𝜃̇)𝑒̅𝜃 + 𝑧̈ 𝑘̅ (11)
Spherical Coordinates
Spherical coordinates locate a point in terms of one length parameter and two angles. The radial
distance r is the length of the position vector from a fixed point to the point of interest. The
fixed point is taken to be the origin of an xyz coordinate system, as depicted in the Figure. The
z axis and the moving point form what it is referred to as the meridional plane. The
instantaneous orientation of this plane is measured by the azimuthal angle θ, just as it was in
cylindrical coordinates. The second angle locating the point’s position is the polar angle φ. The
triad (r, φ, θ) constitutes spherical coordinates. We limit the azimuthal angle to −π < θ ≤ π and
the polar angle to 0 ≤ φ ≤ π.
The transformation from (r, φ, θ) to (x, y, z) is found by dropping perpendiculars from the point
onto the xy plane and onto the z axis. The distances from the origin to the projection points are
r sin φ and r cos φ, respectively. Therefore
𝑥 = 𝑟 sin 𝜙 cos 𝜃, 𝑦 = 𝑟 sin 𝜙 sin 𝜃, and 𝑧 = 𝑟 cos 𝜙 (12)
The spherical coordinate unit vectors are formed by holding two of the three coordinates
constant while the value of the third is increased. They are mutually orthogonal, with their
sense being such that
𝑒̅𝜃 = 𝑒̅𝑟 × 𝑒̅𝜙 (13)
Note that the azimuthal angle is often defined here to be positive according to the right-hand
rule relative to the axial direction, that is, counterclockwise looking down the z axis.

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Projecting their unit length onto the respective coordinate axes shows the Cartesian
components of the unit vectors to be
𝑒̅𝑟 = sin 𝜙 cos 𝜃 𝑖̅ + sin 𝜙 sin 𝜃 𝑗̅ + cos 𝜙 𝑘̅ (14a)
𝑒̅𝜙 = cos 𝜙 cos 𝜃 𝑖̅ + cos 𝜙 sin 𝜃 𝑗̅ − sin 𝜙 𝑘 ̅ (14b)
𝑒̅𝜃 = −sin 𝜃 𝑖̅ + cos 𝜃 𝑗̅ (14c)
Now, we take the time derivative of the unit vectors in Cartesian coordinates
𝑒̅̇𝑟 = (𝜙̇ cos 𝜙 cos 𝜃 − 𝜃̇ sin 𝜙 sin 𝜃 )𝑖̅ + (𝜙̇ cos 𝜙 sin 𝜃 + 𝜃̇ sin 𝜙 cos 𝜃)𝑗̅ − 𝜙̇ sin 𝜙 𝑘̅
𝑒̅̇𝑟 = 𝜙̇ (cos 𝜙 cos 𝜃 𝑖̅ + cos 𝜙 sin 𝜃 𝑗̅ − sin 𝜙 𝑘̅ )+ 𝜃̇ sin 𝜙 (−sin 𝜃 𝑖̅ + cos 𝜃 𝑗̅ )
𝑒̅̇𝑟 = 𝜙̇𝑒̅𝜙 + 𝜃̇ sin 𝜙 𝑒̅𝜃 (15a)
and
𝑒̅̇𝜙 = (−𝜙̇sin 𝜙 cos 𝜃 − 𝜃̇cos 𝜙 sin 𝜃) 𝑖̅ + (−𝜙̇sin 𝜙 sin 𝜃 + 𝜃̇ cos 𝜙 cos 𝜃) 𝑗̅ − 𝜙̇ cos 𝜙 𝑘̅
𝑒̅̇𝜙 = −𝜙̇(sin 𝜙 cos 𝜃 𝑖̅ + sin 𝜙 sin 𝜃 𝑗̅ + cos 𝜙 𝑘̅) + 𝜃̇cos 𝜙 (−sin 𝜃 𝑖̅ + cos 𝜃 𝑗̅)
𝑒̅̇𝜙 = −𝑒̅𝑟 𝜙̇ + 𝜃̇cos 𝜙 𝑒̅𝜃 (15b)
and finally
𝑒̅̇𝜃 = −𝜃̇𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 𝑖̅ + 𝜃̇ sin 𝜃 𝑗̅ = −𝜃̇𝑒𝑅̅ = −𝜃̇(cos 𝜙 𝑒̅𝜙 + sin 𝜙 𝑒̅𝑟 ) (15c)
The position vector may be expressed in spherical coordinate as:
𝑟̅𝑃/𝑂 = 𝑟𝑒̅𝑟 (16)
The velocity is obtained upon differentiation with respect to time
̇
𝑣̅ = 𝑟̅𝑃/𝑂 = 𝑟̇ 𝑒𝑟̅ + 𝑟𝑒̅̇𝑟 (17)
Substitute (14a) into (17):
𝑣̅ = 𝑟̇ 𝑒𝑟̅ + 𝑟𝜙̇𝑒̅𝜙 + 𝑟𝜃̇ sin 𝜙 𝑒̅𝜃 (18)
Next, we take another time derivative to obtain acceleration
𝑑 𝑑
𝑎̅ = 𝑟̈ 𝑒𝑟̅ + 𝑟̇ 𝑒̇𝑟̅ + 𝑑𝑡 (𝑟𝜙̇)𝑒̅𝜙 + 𝑟𝜙̇𝑒̅̇𝜙 + 𝑑𝑡 (𝑟𝜃̇ sin 𝜙)𝑒̅𝜃 + 𝑟𝜃̇ sin 𝜙 𝑒̅̇𝜃 (19)
Substitute (15) into (19) and simplify the outcome
𝑎̅ =(𝑟̈ − 𝑟𝜙̇ 2 − 𝑟𝜃̇ 2 sin2 𝜙)𝑒̅𝑟 + (𝑟𝜙̈ + 2 𝑟̇ 𝜙̇ − 𝑟𝜃̇ 2 sin 𝜙 cos 𝜙)𝑒̅𝜙
+(𝑟𝜃̈ sin 𝜙 + 2 𝑟̇ 𝜃̇ sin 𝜙 + 2 𝑟𝜃̇𝜙̇ cos 𝜙)𝑒̅𝜃 (20)
Joint Kinematic Descreption
In many practical problems, situations may occur for which a combined use of two types of
coordinate systems are needed. Suppose that the path of a particle is known to be as shown in
the figure. If the rate of movement along that path is specified in terms of the speed v, we would
certainly want to employ a path-variable description. On the other hand, specification of the
rate of motion in terms of the angle 𝜃 measured from the x axis would certainly suggest that
cylindrical coordinates be employed.

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 Joint use of path variables and cylindrical coordinates

We could consider the kinematic description that best matches the parameters of the actual
system to be the "natural" one. We shall investigate here situations in which no one formulation
is entirely natural, although more than one has elements that are suitable. Such a situation arises
for the path in the figure when the rate of movement is given in terms of the speed, yet we
desire to evaluate R and 𝑅̇ . It is almost axiomatic that if one of the kinematical descriptions
(such as path variables, Cartesian coordinates, or one of the curvilinear coordinate systems)
has some aspect that suits a problem, then it should be employed. Thus, the task that confronts
us here is to establish how to implement two different descriptions simultaneously.
The general concept is to match the velocities and accelerations obtained from each of the
formulations of interest. This matching depends on the fact that the unit vectors for one
formulation may be resolved into components relative to the other. For simplicity, let us begin
by considering planar motion. Let 𝑒̅𝛼 and 𝑒̅𝛽 be the unit vectors for one kinematical description
(e.g., 𝑒̅𝛼 and 𝑒̅𝛽 are the tangent and normal directions), and let 𝑒̅𝜆 and 𝑒̅𝜇 be the unit vectors for
the other description. These unit vectors are depicted in the figure.

As shown in the figure, the orientation of one set of unit vectors relative to the other is defined
by the angle 𝜓. The components of 𝑒̅𝜆 and 𝑒̅𝜇 relative to 𝑒̅𝛼 and 𝑒̅𝛽 are found from this figure
to be
𝑒̅𝜆 = cos 𝜓 𝑒̅𝛼 + sin 𝜓 𝑒̅𝛽 (21a)
𝑒̅𝜇 = −sin 𝜓 𝑒̅𝛼 + cos 𝜓 𝑒̅𝛽 (21b)
Also, the velocity vector may be expressed in terms of each pair of orthogonal unit vectors as:
𝑣̅ = 𝑣𝛼 𝑒̅𝛼 + 𝑣𝛽 𝑒̅𝛽 = 𝑣𝜆 𝑒̅𝜆 + 𝑣𝜇 𝑒̅𝜇 (22)
Assuming 𝑣𝜆 and 𝑣𝜇 are given, we may determine 𝑣𝛼 and 𝑣𝛽 upon substitution of (21) into
(22):
𝑣̅ = 𝑣𝜆 𝑒̅𝜆 + 𝑣𝜇 𝑒̅𝜇 = 𝑣𝜆 (cos 𝜓 𝑒̅𝛼 + sin 𝜓 𝑒̅𝛽 ) + 𝑣𝜇 (−sin 𝜓 𝑒̅𝛼 + cos 𝜓 𝑒̅𝛽 ) = 𝑣𝛼 𝑒̅𝛼 + 𝑣𝛼 𝑒̅𝛽

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𝑣𝛼 = 𝑣𝜆 cos 𝜓 − 𝑣𝜇 sin 𝜓 (23a)
𝑣𝛽 = 𝑣𝜆 sin 𝜓 + 𝑣𝜇 cos 𝜓 (23b)
Alternatively, we may determine 𝑣𝜆 and 𝑣𝜇 in terms of 𝑣𝛼 and 𝑣𝛽 :
𝑣𝜆 = 𝑣̅ . 𝑒̅𝜆 = (𝑣𝛼 𝑒̅𝛼 + 𝑣𝛽 𝑒̅𝛽 ). (cos 𝜓 𝑒̅𝛼 + sin 𝜓 𝑒̅𝛽 ) = 𝑣𝛼 cos 𝜓 + 𝑣𝛽 sin 𝜓 (24a)
𝑣𝜇 = 𝑣̅ . 𝑒̅𝜇 = (𝑣𝛼 𝑒̅𝛼 + 𝑣𝛽 𝑒̅𝛽 ). (−sin 𝜓 𝑒̅𝛼 + cos 𝜓 𝑒̅𝛽 ) = −𝑣𝛼 sin 𝜓 + 𝑣𝛽 cos 𝜓 (24b)
The same approach may be applied to treat acceleration. The discussion treated the case of
planar motion, but the same procedure also applies to three-dimensional motion. The
kinematical formulas in that case have three components, so matching corresponding
components will lead to three simultaneous equations. The primary difficulty that arises in this
extension is the evaluation of the transformation of the unit vectors. The component
representation in Eq. (23) was derived by visual projections of one set of unit vector onto the
other directions. The same procedure may be performed in a three-dimensional case if the
geometry is not too complicated. An alternative approach for determining the unit vector
components uses rotation transformation properties established in the next chapter.