- #1
dexturelab
- 5
- 0
Homework Statement
Hi PhysicsForums,
I am calculating something related to the spheroidal membrane and want to ask you a question.
I consider a oblate spheroid (Oblate spheroidal coordinates can also be considered as a limiting case of ellipsoidal coordinates in which the two largest semi-axes are equal in length.)
In spheroidal coordinate, the relationship to Cartesian coordinates is
[tex]x=a\sqrt((1+u^2) (1-v^2))\cos(\phi)[/tex]
[tex]y=a\sqrt((1+u^2) (1-v^2))\sin(\phi)[/tex]
[tex]z=a u v[/tex]
Now, I want to know how to achieve the normal derivative to the surface of a spheroid (u = const), in terms of the derivatives of u, v and [tex]\phi[/tex].
Homework Equations
The Attempt at a Solution
I firstly think that the normal derivative in this case is the partial derivative to u. Because in limit cases (v =1,-1) this lead to the derivative to z.
Thank you very much.