Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Polar and Cylindrical Coordinates01:22

Polar and Cylindrical Coordinates

The Cartesian coordinate system is a very convenient tool to use when describing the displacements and velocities of objects and the forces acting on them. However, it becomes cumbersome when we need to describe the rotation of objects. So, when describing rotation, the polar coordinate system is generally used.
Triple Integrals in Cylindrical Coordinates01:28

Triple Integrals in Cylindrical Coordinates

Cylindrical coordinates describe a point in three-dimensional space using three values: radial distance, angle, and height. The height gives the position above the xy-plane, the radial distance measures how far the point is from the z-axis, and the angle describes the point’s direction from the positive x-axis in the xy-plane. This system is especially useful for regions with circular symmetry because it matches the natural geometry of cylinders, disks, and circular tanks.To calculate volume,...
Cylinders in Three-Dimensional Space01:28

Cylinders in Three-Dimensional Space

A cylindrical surface is generated when a two-dimensional profile curve is translated along a straight line in three-dimensional space. The translated copies of the curve form a surface composed of parallel rulings, each oriented in the same fixed direction. This construction allows many three-dimensional forms to be described using relatively simple planar equations.In Cartesian coordinates, a cylindrical surface is often recognized by an equation that omits one of the three variables. For...
Gauss's Law: Cylindrical Symmetry01:20

Gauss's Law: Cylindrical Symmetry

A charge distribution has cylindrical symmetry if the charge density depends only upon the distance from the axis of the cylinder and does not vary along the axis or with the direction about the axis. In other words, if a system varies if it is rotated around the axis or shifted along the axis, it does not have cylindrical symmetry. In real systems, we do not have infinite cylinders; however, if the cylindrical object is considerably longer than the radius from it that we are interested in,...
Spherical Coordinates01:23

Spherical Coordinates

Spherical coordinate systems are preferred over Cartesian, polar, or cylindrical coordinates for systems with spherical symmetry. For example, to describe the surface of a sphere, Cartesian coordinates require all three coordinates. On the other hand, the spherical coordinate system requires only one parameter: the sphere's radius. As a result, the complicated mathematical calculations become simple. Spherical coordinates are used in science and engineering applications like electric and...
Equations of Motion: Rectangular Coordinates and Cylindrical Coordinates01:21

Equations of Motion: Rectangular Coordinates and Cylindrical Coordinates

Understanding the motion of particles is a fundamental aspect of classical mechanics, and the choice of the coordinate system plays a pivotal role in unraveling the complexities of their dynamics.
When a particle moves relative to an inertial frame, the equations of motion can be expressed using rectangular components. If the motion is confined to the x-y plane, the equations having the x and y coordinates only can be used to simplify the mathematical representation.
However, when particles...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Nonimaging light concentration using total internal reflection films.

Applied optics·2010
Same author

New efficient light guide for interior illumination.

Applied optics·2010
Same author

Variable-spacing diffraction grating employing elastomeric surface waves.

Applied optics·2008
Same author

High-efficiency prism light guides with confocal parabolic cross sections.

Applied optics·2008
Same author

Evaluation of diffraction loss in prism light guides by finite-difference time-domain field modeling.

Applied optics·2008
Same author

Characterization of the agarase system of a multiple carbohydrate degrading marine bacterium.

Cytobios·2001
Same journal

Multifunctional reconfigurable terahertz metasurface based on vanadium dioxide phase transition: achieving broadband absorption and efficient polarization conversion.

Applied optics·2026
Same journal

High-Q-factor electromagnetically induced transparency utilizing quasi-bound states in the continuum in an all-dielectric terahertz metasurface.

Applied optics·2026
Same journal

Automated stitching interferometry for high-precision metrology of X-ray mirrors.

Applied optics·2026
Same journal

Experimental demonstration of an approach to designing a metal-dielectric DBR resonant cavity structure.

Applied optics·2026
Same journal

High-precision wavefront reconstruction from a single-shot interferogram using a physics-driven hybrid feature calibration network.

Applied optics·2026
Same journal

Ultra-high-Q Fano resonance based on coupled topological corner states in Kagome photonic crystals.

Applied optics·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Pool-Boiling Heat-Transfer Enhancement on Cylindrical Surfaces with Hybrid Wettable Patterns
07:32

Pool-Boiling Heat-Transfer Enhancement on Cylindrical Surfaces with Hybrid Wettable Patterns

Published on: April 10, 2017

Simplified ray tracing in cylindrical systems.

L A Whitehead1

  • 1University of British Columbia, Physics Department, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1W5.

Applied Optics
|April 17, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

A new, simplified ray tracing method for cylindrical optical systems is presented. This technique uses a 2-D projection and a generalized Snell

More Related Videos

Preparation and 3D Tracking of Catalytic Swimming Devices
06:50

Preparation and 3D Tracking of Catalytic Swimming Devices

Published on: July 1, 2016

Measuring the Complete-arch Distortion of an Optical Dental Impression
06:51

Measuring the Complete-arch Distortion of an Optical Dental Impression

Published on: May 30, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Pool-Boiling Heat-Transfer Enhancement on Cylindrical Surfaces with Hybrid Wettable Patterns
07:32

Pool-Boiling Heat-Transfer Enhancement on Cylindrical Surfaces with Hybrid Wettable Patterns

Published on: April 10, 2017

Preparation and 3D Tracking of Catalytic Swimming Devices
06:50

Preparation and 3D Tracking of Catalytic Swimming Devices

Published on: July 1, 2016

Measuring the Complete-arch Distortion of an Optical Dental Impression
06:51

Measuring the Complete-arch Distortion of an Optical Dental Impression

Published on: May 30, 2019

Area of Science:

  • Optics and Photonics
  • Optical Engineering
  • Computational Optics

Background:

  • Traditional ray tracing in complex optical systems can be computationally intensive.
  • Cylindrical optical systems present unique challenges for standard ray tracing algorithms.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a simplified and efficient method for ray tracing in cylindrical optical systems.
  • To adapt conventional 2-D ray tracing techniques for use with arbitrary cross-sections.

Main Methods:

  • A novel projection technique is introduced, mapping a 3-D ray path onto a 2-D cross-sectional plane.
  • The projected path is shown to follow a generalized form of Snell's law.
  • Conventional 2-D ray tracing algorithms are applied to the projected path.

Main Results:

  • The simplified method accurately traces rays in cylindrical optical systems.
  • The generalized Snell's law provides a foundation for the 2-D projection method.
  • The optical characteristics of a prism light guide were successfully demonstrated using this approach.

Conclusions:

  • The developed method offers a significant simplification for analyzing cylindrical optical systems.
  • This technique facilitates the application of established 2-D ray tracing tools to complex 3-D geometries.
  • The approach is validated by its successful application to a novel prism light guide design.