Physics 611

Dr. D. Sober

Revised 3 October 2011

Prolate spheroidal coordinates

Prolate spheroidal coordinates , , are defined by the relations

The coordinate surfaces (Figure 1) are as follows:

= constant prolate spheroids
with b = a sinh , c = a cosh , c > b
= constant hyperboloids of revolution (2 sheets)
= constant half-planes through the z axis
For those whose memory of conic sections is hazy, some useful
formulas are found in Schaum Mathematical Handbook 8.18-8.38.
Consider = 0: Then y = 0, and each value of (, ) generates a
Figure 1
point (x, z) in the xz plane. Other values of rotate the plane about
the z axis. In the xz plane, consider the curves corresponding to constant and constant :
1.

Fix the value of :

Using

, we obtain

This is the equation of an ellipse with its major axis vertical (since cosh > sinh), semimajor axis a cosh , and foci at

. The
. As 64, the eccentricity

eccentricity of the ellipse is

approaches 0 and the ellipses become circles. As 60, the ellipse shrinks to a straight line
from z =!a to z = a.
Note that the condition = 0 generates only positive values of x. The negative values of x
in the xz plane correspond to = . Since the major axis of the ellipse is along the axis of
rotation, the resulting spheroid is prolate. (If we interchange the sinh and cosh functions,
the major axis is normal to the axis of rotation, giving an oblate spheroid.)
2.

Fix the value of :

Using

, we obtain

This is the equation of a hyperbola with two branches extending upward from z = a cos
and downward from z = !a cos . The foci are at
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, i.e. the same as the foci of the ellipses.

= 0, and 2 correspond to the +z axis, the x axis and the !z axis respectively.
Thus any point in the xz plane is at the intersection of an ellipse (curve of constant ) and a
hyperbola (curve of constant ), both of whose foci are at z = a. Any point (x, y, z) in 3dimensional space is at the intersection of three coordinate surfaces: (1) the ellipsoid of rotation
and (2) the hyperboloid of rotation (two sheets) which result from rotating these curves about the
z axis, and (3) the half-plane through the z axis which makes angle with the xz plane.
Figure 2 shows some curves of constant and constant in the xz plane ( = 0) for a =1. As
mentioned above, only positive x values are generated for = 0. The foci of all the ellipses and
hyperbolas are located at
. All the ellipses intersect the z axis at
, and all the hyperbolas intersect the z axis at
.
In addition to the coordinates (, , ), the equations for (x, y, z) depend on the parameter a,
which must be chosen to match the desired boundary conditions. Consider the following
example:
Suppose we want to find an expression for the electrostatic potential in the vicinity of a prolate
spheroidal conductor whose semi-major axis is A and semi-minor axis is B, i.e. the equation of
the conductor surface is

with A > B. Laplaces equation (

) in prolate

spheroidal coordinates can be written using the appropriate scale factors h i , and gives a
(relatively) simple solution for the potential outside the conductor:

which depends only on the coordinate (i.e. all the equipotentials are surfaces of constant ) if
the conductor surface coincides with the ellipsoid corresponding to = 0. How can we make
this happen? To establish the appropriate coordinate system, we note (using Schaum) that
1. All the ellipsoids (surfaces of constant ) have their foci at z = a , and have semi-major axis
a cosh .
2. The conductor surface

is an ellipsoid with foci at

, and

semi-major axis A.
3. Equating the focus positions, we must set
.
4. Finally, to make the ellipsoid = 0 coincide with the conductor, we equate the semi-major
axes: a cosh 0 = A, with the result
.
Another geometry for which the solution of Laplaces equation is very simple in spheroidal
coordinates would be a conductor in the form of a hyperboloid of revolution ( = constant) near a
conducting plane ( = 0.) In this case, all the equipotentials are surfaces of constant .
Looking at the coordinate transformation equations (1), we see that spheroidal coordinates
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reduce to spherical coordinates if

, which occurs as 64, in which case sinh
and cosh are also infinite. Thus the appropriate spherical limit is 64 , a 60 (so the two foci
coincide at the origin), with r = a cosh = a sinh = finite. (This is not a particularly useful
way to define spherical coordinates.)
Figure 2. Curves of constant and constant in the xz plane ( = 0).

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