Spherical coordinate system
A spherical coordinate system uses three numbers to identify a point in space.: Usually, two angles, and a distance from the origin of the coordinate system. If the point lies on the sphere, only the two angles are needed, because the distance from the origin is known.
The two angular numbers are related to lines of longitude and latitude on Earth. Earth's longitude is the same as the variable phi, which can be written as either [math]\displaystyle{ \phi }[/math] or [math]\displaystyle{ \varphi\!. }[/math] The latitude resembles the variable [math]\displaystyle{ \theta\,\! }[/math] (theta), except that some authors define [math]\displaystyle{ \theta=0 }[/math] to be at the north pole instead of at the equator.
Spherical Coordinate System Media
A globe showing the radial distance, polar angle and azimuthal angle of a point P with respect to a unit sphere, in the mathematics convention. In this image, r equals 4/6, θ equals 90°, and φ equals 30°.
The output pattern of an industrial loudspeaker shown using spherical polar plots taken at six frequencies
Unit vectors in spherical coordinates
