Cylindrical basis (${\mathbf{e}}_r,{\mathbf{e}}_{\theta },{\mathbf{e}}_z$)

The local orthonormal basis associated with cylindrical coordinates: ${\mathbf{e}}_r=(\cos \theta ,\sin \theta ,0)$, ${\mathbf{e}}_{\theta }=(-\sin \theta ,\cos \theta ,0)$, and ${\mathbf{e}}_z=(0,0,1)$. The first two basis vectors depend on the angular coordinate and are undefined on the axis without a choice of angle.

The azimuthal unit vector is tangent to increasing azimuthal angle at fixed cylindrical radius and height. For $r>0$ it equals $(-y/r,x/r,0)$. A counterclockwise circle has tangent displacement $d\mathbf{r}=r\hat{\varphi }d\varphi$. Unlike a fixed Cartesian basis vector, its direction depends on position.