Curl in cylindrical coordinates

In summary: V^{\phi}) }{ \partial \phi } - \frac{ \partial V^z }{ \partial z }]$$So, in summary, the benefit of the other notation is that it is more in line with the standard curl formula, and the benefit of my notation is that it is more explicit and easier to see how the coordinates and scale factors play a role in the curl formula.
  • #1
WendysRules
37
3
So, let me derive the curl in the cylindrical coordinate system so I can showcase what I get. Let ##x=p\cos\phi##, ##y=p\sin\phi## and ##z=z##. This gives us a line element of ##ds^2 = {dp}^2+p^2{d\phi}^2+{dz}^2## Given that this is an orthogonal coordinate system, our gradient is then ##\nabla = d = \partial_{p} dp + \frac{1}{p}\partial_{\phi} d\phi + \partial_{z} dz## and ##V= V_p dp + V_{\phi} d\phi + V_z dz## Thus, the curl is then ##\nabla \times V = \star dV## So, going through with this, we see that $$dV = \frac{\partial V_{\phi}}{\partial p} dp \wedge d\phi + \frac{\partial V_z}{\partial p}dp \wedge dz + \frac{1}{p}\frac{\partial V_p}{\partial \phi}d\phi \wedge dp + \frac{1}{p}\frac{\partial V_z}{\partial \phi}d\phi \wedge dz + \frac{\partial V_p}{\partial z}dz \wedge dp + \frac{\partial \phi}{\partial z}dz \wedge d\phi$$

Using the anti-symmetric property of wedge products, we see this become:
$$ [\frac{\partial V_{\phi}}{\partial p} - \frac{1}{p}\frac{\partial V_p}{\partial \phi}] dp \wedge d\phi + [\frac{\partial V_z}{\partial p} - \frac{\partial V_p}{\partial z}] dp \wedge dz + [\frac{1}{p}\frac{\partial V_z}{\partial \phi} - \frac{\partial \phi}{\partial z}] d\phi \wedge dz$$ Applying the hodge dual, we see this become $$\nabla \times V = [\frac{\partial V_{\phi}}{\partial p} - \frac{1}{p}\frac{\partial V_p}{\partial \phi}] dz - [\frac{\partial V_z}{\partial p} - \frac{\partial V_p}{\partial z}] d\phi + [\frac{1}{p}\frac{\partial V_z}{\partial \phi} - \frac{\partial \phi}{\partial z}] dp $$

However, looking at cylinderical coordinate curl, sometimes I will see sometimes people set it up like this:
$$\nabla \times V = [\frac{1}{p}\frac{\partial V_z}{\partial \phi}-\frac{\partial V_{\phi}}{\partial z}] \hat{p}+ [\frac{\partial V_p}{\partial z}-\frac{\partial V_z}{\partial p }] \hat{\phi} + \frac{1}{p}[\frac{\partial (p V_{\phi})}{\partial p} - \frac{\partial V_p}{\partial \phi}] \hat{z}$$So, zooming onto the ##\frac{1}{p}[\frac{\partial (p V_{\phi})}{\partial p} - \frac{\partial V_p}{\partial \phi}] \hat{z}## we see a difference in notation! I keep my ##\hat{z}## term like this ##[\frac{\partial V_{\phi}}{\partial p} - \frac{1}{p}\frac{\partial V_p}{\partial \phi}]##. While they factored out a ##\frac{1}{p}##.

So two things; How do I show that ##\frac{1}{p}\frac{\partial (p V_{\phi})}{\partial p} = \frac{\partial V_{\phi}}{\partial p}## I know this is true, but i forget the property. I don't believe it's just a product rule? Maybe it's linearity? Not sure... would appreciate some insight.

Second thing, what's the benefit of this notation vs the one i derived?

Thanks for the help.
 
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  • #2
Ahh, what a brain fart! I think ##\frac{1}{p}\frac{(\partial (pV_{\phi})}{\partial p}=\frac{\partial V_{ \phi}}{\partial p} ## because p would be a radius, and thus constant? so that is why we are able to bring it inside the differential because d(const*f(x))=constant*d(f(x)).
 
  • #3
WendysRules said:
Ahh, what a brain fart! I think ##\frac{1}{p}\frac{(\partial (pV_{\phi})}{\partial p}=\frac{\partial V_{ \phi}}{\partial p} ## because p would be a radius, and thus constant? so that is why we are able to bring it inside the differential because d(const*f(x))=constant*d(f(x)).
Incorrect. ## \frac{\partial{(r V_{\phi}})}{\partial{r}}=V_{\phi}+r \frac{\partial{V_{\phi}}}{\partial{r}} ##. I think you have something incorrect in your initial equations, but I don't know exactly what.
 
  • #4
Charles Link said:
Incorrect. ## \frac{\partial{(r V_{\phi}})}{\partial{r}}=V_{\phi}+r \frac{\partial{V_{\phi}}}{\partial{r}} ##. I think you have something incorrect in your initial equations, but I don't know exactly what.
That's what i thought as well, but was trying to force it. Let me try to re-derive it as I was doing this at at around 1:30 AM last night!
 
  • #5
So, I can see my issue was not taking the hodge dual right, and forgetting about my scale factors for my V. I still have an issue. So, this might be a long post...

Let's derive it for an arbitrary orthogonal coordinate system.
##\omega = h_uh_vh_w du \wedge dv \wedge dw## and our ##V=h_uV^udu+h_vV^vdv+h_wV^wdw## We also know that ##\nabla = d = \frac{1}{h_u} \partial_u h_u du+ \frac{1}{h_v} \partial_v h_v dv + \frac{1}{h_w}\partial_w h_w dw## which i write this way was it will be useful later. Now we ask what the curl is.
$$\nabla \times V = \star dV = \star[\frac{1}{h_u}\frac{ \partial h_vV^v }{ \partial u } h_u du \wedge dv +\frac{1}{h_u}\frac{ \partial h_wV^w }{ \partial u } h_u du \wedge dw + \frac{1}{h_v}\frac{ \partial h_uV^u }{ \partial v } h_v dv \wedge du + \frac{1}{h_v}\frac{ \partial h_wV^w }{ \partial v } h_v dv \wedge dw + \frac{1}{h_w}\frac{ \partial h_uV^u }{ \partial w } h_w dw \wedge du + \frac{1}{h_w}\frac{ \partial h_vV^v }{ \partial w } h_w dw \wedge dv] $$

So, now in order to factor the wedge products we must multiply them by some other scale factor and basis. Doing so, we see our equation now become..

$$\star[(\frac{ \partial h_vV^v }{ \partial u } - \frac{ \partial h_uV^u }{ \partial v })\frac{h_u h_v du \wedge dv}{h_uh_v} + (\frac{ \partial h_wV^w }{ \partial u } - \frac{ \partial h_uV^u }{ \partial w })\frac{h_u h_w du \wedge dw}{h_uh_w} + (\frac{ \partial h_wV^w }{ \partial v } - \frac{ \partial h_vV^v }{ \partial w }) \frac{h_v h_w dv \wedge dw}{h_vh_w}$$

So there is where I kind of cheat the math, I can't actually show that ##\star (h_uh_v du \wedge dv) = dw## because as far as I'm aware, it should be ## \star (h_uh_v du \wedge dv) = h_w dw## But I had a feeling that it was just ##dw##, and if I do it that way, I see that my curl is...

$$ \star dV = (\frac{ \partial h_vV^v }{ \partial u } - \frac{ \partial h_uV^u }{ \partial v }) \frac{ dw }{h_uh_v} - (\frac{ \partial h_wV^w }{ \partial u } - \frac{ \partial h_uV^u }{ \partial w })\frac{dv}{h_uh_w} + (\frac{ \partial h_wV^w }{ \partial v } - \frac{ \partial h_vV^v }{ \partial w })\frac{du}{h_vh_w} $$

Now, we can verify this on our curl in cylindrical formula. Let ##ds^2 = dr^2 + r^2d\theta^2+dz^2##, thus ##h_u=h_z=1## and ##h_{\phi} = r##. So using this in our newly found formula, we see that $$ \star dV = (\frac{ \partial (rV^{\phi}) }{ \partial r } - \frac{ \partial V^r }{ \partial \phi }) \frac{ dz }{r} - (\frac{ \partial V^z }{ \partial r } - \frac{ \partial V^r }{ \partial z })d\phi + (\frac{ \partial V^z }{ \partial \phi } - \frac{ \partial (rV^{\phi}) }{ \partial z })\frac{dr}{r}$$ Which is what we want! And the trick I wanted to use above, I can actually use here on the last time to make our equation more like the standard one above! That is...
$$(\frac{ \partial V^z }{ \partial \phi } - \frac{ \partial rV^{\phi} }{ \partial z })\frac{dr}{r} \rightarrow (\frac{1}{r}\frac{ \partial V^z }{ \partial \phi } - \frac{r \partial V^{\phi} }{r \partial z })dr \rightarrow (\frac{1}{r}\frac{ \partial V^z }{ \partial \phi } - \frac{ \partial V^{\phi} }{ \partial z })dr$$ So finally, we can write...
$$\nabla \times V = \star dF = (\frac{1}{r}\frac{ \partial V^z }{ \partial \phi } - \frac{ \partial V^{\phi} }{ \partial z })dr - (\frac{ \partial V^z }{ \partial r } - \frac{ \partial V^r }{ \partial z })d\phi + \frac{1}{r}(\frac{ \partial (rV^{\phi}) }{ \partial r } - \frac{ \partial V^r }{ \partial \phi }) dz$$
 

What is curl in cylindrical coordinates?

Curl in cylindrical coordinates is a mathematical concept used in vector calculus to describe the rotation or circular motion of a vector field. It is a vector operator that measures the amount of circulation or rotational force of a vector field per unit area.

How is curl calculated in cylindrical coordinates?

In cylindrical coordinates, curl is calculated using the cross product of the unit vectors in the radial and angular directions (r and φ) and the partial derivative of the vector field in these directions. The resulting vector is then summed to find the total curl value.

What is the significance of curl in cylindrical coordinates?

Curl in cylindrical coordinates is an important concept in many fields of science and engineering, including fluid mechanics, electromagnetism, and fluid dynamics. It helps to describe the rotation and circulation patterns of fluid flows, magnetic fields, and other vector fields.

How does curl differ from divergence in cylindrical coordinates?

While both curl and divergence are vector operators used in vector calculus, they have different meanings and calculations. Curl describes the rotation or circular motion of a vector field, while divergence measures the spreading or converging of a vector field. In cylindrical coordinates, divergence is calculated using the dot product of the unit vectors and the partial derivative of the vector field.

Can curl be negative in cylindrical coordinates?

Yes, curl can be negative in cylindrical coordinates. The direction of the resulting vector from the cross product used to calculate curl can be either positive or negative, depending on the direction of the vector field and the unit vectors. A negative curl value indicates a clockwise rotation, while a positive value indicates a counterclockwise rotation.

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