Line element ($d{s}^2=g_{ij}d{x}^{i}d{x}^j$)

The line element of a Riemannian metric is its local expression for squared infinitesimal length. Along a parametrized curve $x(t)$, the arc length is $\int \sqrt{g_{ij}(x(t)){\dot{x}}^i{\dot{x}}^j}dt$. For a circular cylinder of radius $R$ parametrized by angle $\theta$ and axial position $z$, the induced metric gives $d{s}^2=R^{2}d{\theta }^2+d{z}^2$. Unrolling with $u=R\theta$ yields the Euclidean form $d{u}^2+d{z}^2$, explaining the straight unrolled descriptions of geodesics on a circular cylinder.

In spherical coordinates on a sphere of radius $R$, the position is $X=R(\sin \theta \cos \varphi ,\sin \theta \sin \varphi ,\cos \theta )$. Its coordinate tangent vectors satisfy $X_{\theta }\cdot X_{\varphi }=0$, $|X_{\theta }{|}^2=R^2$, and $|X_{\varphi }{|}^2=R^2{\sin }^2\theta$. Expanding $|dX{|}^2$ proves the displayed line element, the first fundamental form of the sphere. Along a parametrized path it gives the arc length by integrating $R\sqrt{{\dot{\theta }}^2+{\sin }^2\theta {\dot{\varphi }}^2}$. The vanishing azimuthal coefficient at a pole is a coordinate singularity, not a singularity of the sphere.