Spherical coordinates to Cartesian coordinates

These equations convert a point given by radial distance, polar angle and azimuthal angle into Cartesian x, y, z coordinates. They are used in physics and mathematics whenever a problem has spherical symmetry or uses a coordinate system centred on the origin.

\begin{aligned} x &= r \sin\theta \cos\phi \\ y &= r \sin\theta \sin\phi \\ z &= r \cos\theta \end{aligned}

What the symbols mean

Cartesian coordinate x
Cartesian coordinate y
Cartesian coordinate z
radial distance from the origin
polar angle measured from the positive z-axis (radians)
azimuthal angle measured in the xy-plane from the positive x-axis (radians)

About this formula

  • FieldMathematics
  • TopicCoordinate systems
  • LevelUniversity
  • Also calledspherical to cartesian conversion, spherical coordinates formula, spherical coordinate transformation, convert spherical to rectangular coordinates, spherical coordinate system equations, polar angle azimuthal angle to xyz
  • SourceWikidata Q203218

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