Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematical-methods-ii-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2019-resit/10/a/i/solution

For general coordinates expressed as functions of , the chain rule gives , where
The Jacobian determinant is the oriented volume scaling of this linearized map. Thus the unsigned volume element transforms as . Where the coordinate change is invertible, the inverse Jacobian determinant is , by the Jacobian chain rule.
For cylindrical coordinates, use , , and unchanged height . Direct differentiation gives
whose determinant is . Therefore
Both directions are displayed because “from Cartesian to cylindrical” can refer either to the derivative of the new coordinates or to the factor used in transforming a Cartesian volume integral. They are reciprocals; the cylindrical axis is a coordinate degeneracy.

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