38 2 Kinematics
Coordinate systems
For mechanical systems the coordinate systems most often utilized are rect-
angular, cylindrical and spherical coordinates.
Rectangular coordinates
Consider a point P that is free to move in space, as shown in Fig. 2.1. In Fig.
2.1a the fixed reference frame is established by the rectangular coordinate
system x-y-z. The origin of the system is at Q, and the axes x, y, and z are
orthogonal, with unit vectors
ˆ
i,
ˆ
j, and
ˆ
k, respectively. Here, we will designate
the coordinate system x-y-z as reference frame 0 (zero). In which case, the
displacement of the point P relative to point Q as seen from frame 0 is given
by
0
¯r
QP
= x
ˆ
i + y
ˆ
j + z
ˆ
k.
This rather verbose notation will prove beneficial when we consider the kine-
matics of systems that involve multiple reference frames.
The velocity of P is given by
0
˙
¯r
QP
= ˙x
ˆ
i + ˙y
ˆ
j + ˙z
ˆ
k,
where, the superscript (
˙
•) =
d
dt
(•). Hence, ˙x, ˙y, and ˙z, are the velocities in
the x, y, and z directions, respectively.
Cylindrical coordinates
The displacement of P can also be established using a cylindrical coordinate
system as shown in Fig. 2.1b. The cylindrical coordinate system is defined
using the unit vectors ˆe
r
, ˆe
θ
, and ˆe
z
. The vector ˆe
r
is directed from the point
Q to P
0
. Here, P
0
is the projection of the point P onto the x-y plane. The
vector ˆe
z
is parallel to the z-axis, and the vector ˆe
θ
is the cross product of
ˆ
k and ˆe
r
using the right-hand rule. The distance from Q to P
0
is ρ, and the
angle from the x-axis to the line QP
0
is θ. In this case the displacement of P
is given by
0
¯r
QP
= ρ ˆe
r
+ ζ ˆe
z
.
Note that in the cylindrical coordinate system the unit vectors ˆe
r
and ˆe
θ
change direction as P moves.
The displacements in rectangular coordinates are related to the displace-
ments in cylindrical coordinates via the transformation equations
x = ρ cos θ,
y = ρ sin θ,
z = ζ,