- #1
raul_l
- 105
- 0
Homework Statement
Hi. I have a simple question. Is it true that [tex] \frac{\partial r}{\partial x} = (\frac{\partial x}{\partial r})^{-1} [/tex] ?
Because I'm having some trouble with the conversion between rectangular and spherical coordinates.
Homework Equations
[tex] x = r cos \phi sin \theta [/tex]
[tex] y = r sin \phi sin \theta [/tex]
[tex] z = r cos \theta [/tex]
[tex] r = \sqrt{x^2+y^2+z^2} [/tex]
The Attempt at a Solution
It is easy to show that
[tex] \frac{\partial r}{\partial x} = cos \phi sin \theta [/tex]
However, we see that
[tex] (\frac{\partial x}{\partial r})^{-1} = (\frac{\partial (r cos \phi sin \theta)}{\partial r})^{-1}= \frac{1}{cos \phi sin \theta} [/tex]
and these are clearly not equal.
What am I missing?