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In linear algebra, a coordinate vector is a representation of a vector as an ordered list of numbers (a tuple) that describes the vector in terms of a particular ordered basis. [1] An easy example may be a position such as (5, 2, 1) in a 3-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system with the basis as the axes of this system.
Vectors are defined in cylindrical coordinates by (ρ, φ, z), where ρ is the length of the vector projected onto the xy-plane, φ is the angle between the projection of the vector onto the xy-plane (i.e. ρ) and the positive x-axis (0 ≤ φ < 2π), z is the regular z-coordinate. (ρ, φ, z) is given in Cartesian coordinates by:
A vector v (red) represented by • a vector basis (yellow, left: e 1, e 2, e 3), tangent vectors to coordinate curves (black) and • a covector basis or cobasis (blue, right: e 1, e 2, e 3), normal vectors to coordinate surfaces (grey) in general (not necessarily orthogonal) curvilinear coordinates (q 1, q 2, q 3). The basis and cobasis do ...
For example, the three-dimensional Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z) is an orthogonal coordinate system, since its coordinate surfaces x = constant, y = constant, and z = constant are planes that meet at right angles to one another, i.e., are perpendicular. Orthogonal coordinates are a special but extremely common case of curvilinear coordinates.
(For example, for a position vector of length meters, if all Cartesian basis vectors are changed from meters in length to meters in length, the length of the position vector remains unchanged at meters, although the vector components will all increase by a factor of ). The scalar product of a vector and a covector is invariant, because one has ...
Cartesian coordinates identify points of the Euclidean plane with pairs of real numbers. In mathematics, the real coordinate space or real coordinate n-space, of dimension n, denoted R n or , is the set of all ordered n-tuples of real numbers, that is the set of all sequences of n real numbers, also known as coordinate vectors.
For example, the arrows in the plane and the ordered pairs of numbers vector spaces in the introduction above (see § Examples) are isomorphic: a planar arrow v departing at the origin of some (fixed) coordinate system can be expressed as an ordered pair by considering the x - and y-component of the arrow, as shown in the image at the right.
In three dimensions, any set of three-dimensional coordinates and their corresponding basis vectors can be used to define the location of a point in space—whichever is the simplest for the task at hand may be used. Commonly, one uses the familiar Cartesian coordinate system, or sometimes spherical polar coordinates, or cylindrical coordinates: