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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.

For an oriented piecewise smooth surface $S$ with boundary curve $C=\partial S$, and a continuously differentiable vector field $\mathbf{F}$ near $S$, Stokes theorem statesHere $\mathbf{n}$ is the chosen unit normal, $dS$ is positive surface area, and $d\mathbf{r}$ is the directed tangent line element. The positive traversal of $C$ is fixed by the right-hand rule relative to $\mathbf{n}$. Thus the flux of the curl through the surface equals the circulation along its oriented boundary.

Differentiate the position vector, using the angular factor from the scale factors of orthogonal coordinates:The basis is an orthonormal basis, so all cross terms in its squared length vanish. The Euclidean line element is thereforeIn particular, an angular change $d\varphi$ at fixed radius traverses a physical distance $\rho |d\varphi |$.

For a finite separation use the Cartesian distance, rather than substituting finite coordinate differences into the local line element. Expanding the two horizontal components givesThe vertical contribution is $(z-z^{\prime }{)}^2$, independently. ThusandEquivalently, the horizontal contribution is $(\rho -{\rho }^{\prime }{)}^2+4\rho {\rho }^{\prime }{\sin }^2[(\varphi -{\varphi }^{\prime })/2]$, which also makes its nonnegativity explicit.

The downward drop from the starting rim to angle $\theta$ is $R\cos \theta$. With no dissipative forces, conservation of energy gives $m{v}^2/2=mgR\cos \theta$, so $v=\sqrt{2gR\cos \theta }$. Dividing the line element by this speed yieldsThe endpoint singularities are integrable for the minimizing path. The integrand is independent of $z$; its Euler-Lagrange equation gives a constant $K$, after absorbing the overall prefactor:Solving for $z^{\prime }$ and taking the positive branch required by $z_2>z_1$ givesThe constant is fixed implicitly byThis integral is strictly increasing from zero to infinity as $K$ increases from zero to one, so every finite positive separation selects a unique $K$. The time integrand has second derivative $R^2/[\sqrt{\cos \theta }(R^2+z^{\prime 2}{)}^{3/2}]>0$ with respect to $z^{\prime }$. Its supporting-line inequality, integrated between fixed endpoints with constant first derivative with respect to $z^{\prime }$, proves this stationary path is the unique global minimum within the stated single-valued class.

As $\theta \downarrow -\pi /2$, $z^{\prime }\to 0$. Therefore the skater should initially head directly down the curved ramp, perpendicular to the cylinder axis, and gain axial motion later. The path differs from the constant-pitch shortest route because extra distance is cheaper in time near the faster, lower part of the ramp. This is the brachistochrone on a horizontal half-cylinder.

On the cylindrical surface $r=R$, the line element is $d{s}^2=R^{2}d{\theta }^2+d{z}^2$. For a single-valued path parametrized by increasing $\theta$,The integrand has no explicit $z$, so its Euler-Lagrange equation gives the constant conjugate quantity $z^{\prime }/\sqrt{R^2+z^{\prime 2}}$. Its derivative with respect to $z^{\prime }$ is strictly positive, hence $z^{\prime }$ itself is constant. The two endpoints determineThis is a constant-pitch helix on the cylinder. To verify global minimality, unroll the cylinder with planar coordinates $(R\theta ,z)$. The path becomes a straight line between points separated by $\pi R$ and $z_2-z_1$, so the triangle inequality for arc length givesThis is the standard description of geodesics on a circular cylinder.