Physics Help Forum Jacobians (J)

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 Apr 20th 2008, 05:34 AM #1 Junior Member   Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: London Posts: 2 Jacobians (J) Jacobians (J) The normal (N) to a surface in Cartesian co-ordinates is N = Jx i +Jy j + Jz k whats jx for Cartesian to spherical
Apr 20th 2008, 05:43 AM   #2

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 Originally Posted by j-lee00 Jacobians (J) The normal (N) to a surface in Cartesian co-ordinates is N = Jx i +Jy j + Jz k whats jx for Cartesian to spherical
I saw this one over on MHF and decided to leave it for the guys who are better at Math than me.

However I have to ask because this doesn't make much sense to me: To my knowledge the Jacobian is a determinant that "converts" a differential element in one coordinate system to another.

If you mean something else, please let me know.

-Dan
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 Apr 20th 2008, 05:55 AM #3 Junior Member   Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: London Posts: 2 Correct. I want the equation to find the normal to a surface with Cartesian co-ordinates converted to spherical. I think there a particular formula but i cant find it.
Apr 20th 2008, 08:46 AM   #4

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 Originally Posted by j-lee00 Correct. I want the equation to find the normal to a surface with Cartesian co-ordinates converted to spherical. I think there a particular formula but i cant find it.
Well, you can do this in two ways.

First you can convert the equation for your surface into spherical coordinates then find $\displaystyle \nabla S(r,\theta, \phi)$

or you could find your normal $\displaystyle \nabla S(x, y, z)$ then convert that vector into spherical coordinates.

And what does this have to do with Motion and Forces?

-Dan
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