Cylindrical coordinates are a popular method for analyzing problems that have symmetry around a central axis. They are often preferred in scenarios where circular symmetry is present, like in the example involving a cylinder and a sphere. Cylindrical coordinates consist of three parameters:
- \( r \): This represents the radial distance from the origin to a point in the plane.
- \( \theta \): This denotes the angular position measured from a reference direction, often the positive x-axis.
- \( z \): This is the height above the plane.
Using cylindrical coordinates can greatly simplify the computation of integrals over circular regions or volumes since they neatly align with the geometry of these shapes.
This is why they were used in the example to convert the region inside a sphere but outside a cylinder into a simpler form. Cylindrical coordinates allow us to easily express the limits of integration by clearly distinguishing between the radial, angular, and vertical extents of a volume.