Tutorial / Article didactique Derivatives of curvilinear coordinate unit vectors: A concise matrix-vector approach

The time evolution of a curvilinear coordinate system can be identifiedwith an angular velocity matrix or vector, which contains the complete differentiationrule for all unit coordinate vectors of the curvilinear system, providinga concise method for their computations. When generalized the technique provides a powerful tool fordifferentiation, with respect to any parameter, of not only unit coordinate vectors but any vector that remains fixed in a general orthogonal curvilinear coordinate system. Several curvilinear systems, as well as the normal and tangentialcoordinate system are examined.PACS No.: 46.00