Euler angles

The Euler angles are three angles introduced by Leonhard

Euler to describe the orientation of a rigid body with respect
to a fixed coordinate system.[1]

They can also represent the orientation of a mobile frame of

reference in physics or the orientation of a general basis in 3-
dimensional linear algebra.

Classic Euler angles usually take the inclination angle in such

a way that zero degrees represent the vertical orientation.
Alternative forms were later introduced by Peter Guthrie Tait
and George H. Bryan intended for use in aeronautics and
engineering in which zero degrees represent the horizontal
position.

Chained rotations equivalence

Euler angles can be defined by elemental geometry or by
composition of rotations. The geometrical definition Classic Euler angles geometrical definition.
demonstrates that three composed elemental rotations Fixed coordinate system (x, y, z)
(rotations about the axes of a coordinate system) are always Rotated coordinate system (X, Y, Z)
sufficient to reach any target frame. Line of nodes (N )

Any target orientation can be reached, starting from a known reference orientation, using a specific sequence of
intrinsic rotations, whose magnitudes are the Euler angles of the target orientation. This example uses the z-x′-z″
sequence.

The three elemental rotations may be extrinsic (rotations about the axes xyz of the original coordinate system,
which is assumed to remain motionless), or intrinsic (rotations about the axes of the rotating coordinate system
XYZ, solidary with the moving body, which changes its orientation with respect to the extrinsic frame after each
elemental rotation).

In the sections below, an axis designation with a prime mark superscript (e.g., z″) denotes the new axis after an
elemental rotation.

Euler angles are typically denoted as α, β, γ, or ψ, θ, φ. Different authors may use different sets of rotation axes to
define Euler angles, or different names for the same angles. Therefore, any discussion employing Euler angles
should always be preceded by their definition.
Without considering the possibility of using two different conventions for the definition of the rotation axes
(intrinsic or extrinsic), there exist twelve possible sequences of rotation axes, divided in two groups:

Proper Euler angles (z-x-z, x-y-x, y-z-y, z-y-z, x-z-x, y-x-y)

Tait–Bryan angles (x-y-z, y-z-x, z-x-y, x-z-y, z-y-x, y-x-z).

Tait–Bryan angles are also called Cardan angles; nautical angles; heading, elevation, and bank; or yaw,
pitch, and roll. Sometimes, both kinds of sequences are called "Euler angles". In that case, the sequences of the
first group are called proper or classic Euler angles.

Classic Euler angles

Left: A gimbal set, showing a z-x-z rotation sequence. External frame shown in the base. Internal axes in red color.
Right: A simple diagram showing similar Euler angles.

Geometrical definition

The axes of the original frame are denoted as x, y, z and the axes of the rotated frame as X, Y, Z. The geometrical
definition (sometimes referred to as static) begins by defining the line of nodes (N) as the intersection of the
planes xy and XY (it can also be defined as the common perpendicular to the axes z and Z and then written as the
vector product N = z × Z). Using it, the three Euler angles can be defined as follows:

(or ) is the signed angle between the x axis and the N axis (x-convention – it could also be
defined between y and N, called y-convention).
(or ) is the angle between the z axis and the Z axis.
(or ) is the signed angle between the N axis and the X axis (x-convention).

Euler angles between two reference frames are defined only if both frames have the same handedness.

Conventions by intrinsic rotations

Intrinsic rotations are elemental rotations that occur about the axes of a coordinate system XYZ attached to a
moving body. Therefore, they change their orientation after each elemental rotation. The XYZ system rotates,
while xyz is fixed. Starting with XYZ overlapping xyz, a composition of three intrinsic rotations can be used to
reach any target orientation for XYZ.

Euler angles can be defined by intrinsic rotations. The rotated frame XYZ may be imagined to be initially aligned
with xyz, before undergoing the three elemental rotations represented by Euler angles. Its successive orientations
may be denoted as follows:

x-y-z or x0-y0-z0 (initial)

x′-y′-z′ or x1-y1-z1 (after first rotation)
 x″-y″-z″ or x2-y2-z2 (after second rotation)
X-Y-Z or x3-y3-z3 (final)

For the above-listed sequence of rotations, the line of nodes N can be simply defined as the orientation of X after
the first elemental rotation. Hence, N can be simply denoted x′. Moreover, since the third elemental rotation occurs
about Z, it does not change the orientation of Z. Hence Z coincides with z″. This allows us to simplify the
definition of the Euler angles as follows:

α (or φ) represents a rotation around the z axis,

β (or θ) represents a rotation around the x′ axis,
γ (or ψ) represents a rotation around the z″ axis.

Conventions by extrinsic rotations

Extrinsic rotations are elemental rotations that occur about the axes of the fixed coordinate system xyz. The XYZ
system rotates, while xyz is fixed. Starting with XYZ overlapping xyz, a composition of three extrinsic rotations can
be used to reach any target orientation for XYZ. The Euler or Tait–Bryan angles (α, β, γ) are the amplitudes of
these elemental rotations. For instance, the target orientation can be reached as follows (note the reversed order of
Euler angle application):

The XYZ system rotates about the z axis by γ. The X axis is now at angle γ with respect to the x
axis.
The XYZ system rotates again, but this time about the x axis by β. The Z axis is now at angle β
with respect to the z axis.
The XYZ system rotates a third time, about the z axis again, by angle α.

In sum, the three elemental rotations occur about z, x and z. Indeed, this sequence is often denoted z-x-z (or 3-1-3).
Sets of rotation axes associated with both proper Euler angles and Tait–Bryan angles are commonly named using
this notation (see above for details).

If each step of the rotation acts on the rotating coordinate system XYZ, the rotation is intrinsic (Z-X'-Z''). Intrinsic
rotation can also be denoted 3-1-3.

Signs, ranges and conventions

Angles are commonly defined according to the right-hand rule. Namely, they have positive values when they
represent a rotation that appears clockwise when looking in the positive direction of the axis, and negative values
when the rotation appears counter-clockwise. The opposite convention (left hand rule) is less frequently adopted.

About the ranges (using interval notation):

for α and γ, the range is defined modulo 2π radians. For instance, a valid range could be [−π, π].
for β, the range covers π radians (but can't be said to be modulo π ). For example, it could be [0, π]
or [−π/2, π/2].

The angles α, β and γ are uniquely determined except for the singular case that the xy and the XY planes are
identical, i.e. when the z axis and the Z axis have the same or opposite directions. Indeed, if the z axis and the Z
axis are the same, β = 0 and only (α + γ) is uniquely defined (not the individual values), and, similarly, if the z axis
and the Z axis are opposite, β = π and only (α − γ) is uniquely defined (not the individual values). These
ambiguities are known as gimbal lock in applications.

There are six possibilities of choosing the rotation axes for proper Euler angles. In all of them, the first and third
rotation axes are the same. The six possible sequences are:
 1. z1-x′-z2″ (intrinsic rotations) or z2-x-z1 (extrinsic rotations)
2. x1-y′-x2″ (intrinsic rotations) or x2-y-x1 (extrinsic rotations)
3. y1-z′-y2″ (intrinsic rotations) or y2-z-y1 (extrinsic rotations)
4. z1-y′-z2″ (intrinsic rotations) or z2-y-z1 (extrinsic rotations)
5. x1-z′-x2″ (intrinsic rotations) or x2-z-x1 (extrinsic rotations)
6. y1-x′-y2″ (intrinsic rotations) or y2-x-y1 (extrinsic rotations)

Precession, nutation and intrinsic rotation

Precession, nutation, and intrinsic rotation (spin) are defined as the movements
obtained by changing one of the Euler angles while leaving the other two
constant. These motions are not expressed in terms of the external frame, or in
terms of the co-moving rotated body frame, but in a mixture. They constitute a
mixed axes of rotation system, where the first angle moves the line of nodes
around the external axis z, the second rotates around the line of nodes N and the
third one is an intrinsic rotation around Z, an axis fixed in the body that moves.

The static definition implies that:

α (precession) represents a rotation around the z axis,

Euler basic motions of the
β (nutation) represents a rotation around the N or x′ axis,
Earth. Intrinsic (green),
γ (intrinsic rotation) represents a rotation around the Z or z″ axis. Precession (blue) and
Nutation (red)
If β is zero, there is no rotation about N. As a consequence, Z coincides with z, α
and γ represent rotations about the same axis (z), and the final orientation can be
obtained with a single rotation about z, by an angle equal to α + γ.

As an example, consider a top. The top spins around its own axis of symmetry; this corresponds to its intrinsic
rotation. It also rotates around its pivotal axis, with its center of mass orbiting the pivotal axis; this rotation is a
precession. Finally, the top can wobble up and down; the inclination angle is the nutation angle. The same
example can be seen with the movements of the earth.

Though all three movements can be represented by a rotation operator with constant coefficients in some frame,
they cannot be represented by these operators all at the same time. Given a reference frame, at most one of them
will be coefficient-free. Only precession can be expressed in general as a matrix in the basis of the space without
dependencies of the other angles.

These movements also behave as a gimbal set. If we suppose a set of frames, able to move each with respect to
the former according to just one angle, like a gimbal, there will exist an external fixed frame, one final frame and
two frames in the middle, which are called "intermediate frames". The two in the middle work as two gimbal rings
that allow the last frame to reach any orientation in space.

Tait–Bryan angles
The second type of formalism is called Tait–Bryan angles, after Peter Guthrie Tait and George H. Bryan. It is the
convention normally used for aerospace applications, so that zero degrees elevation represents the horizontal
attitude. Tait–Bryan angles represent the orientation of the aircraft with respect to the world frame. When dealing
with other vehicles, different axes conventions are possible.

Definitions
 The definitions and
notations used for
Tait–Bryan angles
are similar to those
described above for
proper Euler angles
(geometrical
definition, intrinsic
rotation definition, Tait–Bryan angles. z-x′-y″ sequence (intrinsic rotations;
extrinsic rotation N coincides with x′)
definition). The only
Tait–Bryan angles. z-y′-x″ difference is that
sequence (intrinsic rotations; N Tait–Bryan angles represent rotations about three distinct axes (e.g. x-y-z, or
coincides with y'). The angle x-y′-z″), while proper Euler angles use the same axis for both the first and
rotation sequence is ψ, θ, φ. third elemental rotations (e.g., z-x-z, or z-x′-z″).
Note that in this case ψ > 90°
and θ is a negative angle. This implies a different definition for the line of nodes in the geometrical
construction. In the proper Euler angles case it was defined as the intersection
between two homologous Cartesian planes (parallel when Euler angles are
zero; e.g. xy and XY). In the Tait–Bryan angles case, it is defined as the intersection of two non-homologous
planes (perpendicular when Euler angles are zero; e.g. xy and YZ).

Conventions

The three elemental rotations may occur either about the axes of the
original coordinate system, which remains motionless (extrinsic
rotations), or about the axes of the rotating coordinate system, which
changes its orientation after each elemental rotation (intrinsic
rotations).

There are six possibilities of choosing the rotation axes for Tait–
Bryan angles. The six possible sequences are:

x-y′-z″ (intrinsic rotations) or z-y-x (extrinsic rotations)

y-z′-x″ (intrinsic rotations) or x-z-y (extrinsic rotations)
z-x′-y″ (intrinsic rotations) or y-x-z (extrinsic rotations)
x-z′-y″ (intrinsic rotations) or y-z-x (extrinsic rotations)
z-y′-x″ (intrinsic rotations) or x-y-z (extrinsic rotations): the
intrinsic rotations are known as: yaw, pitch and roll Heading, elevation and bank angles (Z-Y′-
y-x′-z″ (intrinsic rotations) or z-x-y (extrinsic rotations) X″) for an aircraft using onboard ENU
axes both onboard and for the ground
tracking station. The fixed reference
Signs and ranges frame x-y-z represents such a tracking
station. Onboard axes Y and Z are not
Tait–Bryan convention is widely used in engineering with different shown. X shown in green color. According
purposes. There are several axes conventions in practice for choosing to RHS rules the shown y-axis is
the mobile and fixed axes, and these conventions determine the signs negative.
of the angles. Therefore, signs must be studied in each case carefully.

The range for the angles ψ and φ covers 2π radians. For θ the range covers π radians.

Alternative names
These angles are normally taken as one in the external reference
frame (heading, bearing), one in the intrinsic moving frame (bank)
and one in a middle frame, representing an elevation or inclination
with respect to the horizontal plane, which is equivalent to the line of
nodes for this purpose.

For an aircraft, they can be obtained with three rotations around its
principal axes if done in the proper order. A yaw will obtain the
bearing, a pitch will yield the elevation and a roll gives the bank
angle. Therefore, in aerospace they are sometimes called yaw, pitch,
and roll. Notice that this will not work if the rotations are applied in
The principal axes of an aircraft according
any other order or if the airplane axes start in any position non-
to the air norm DIN 9300. Notice that
equivalent to the reference frame.
fixed and mobile frames must be
Tait–Bryan angles, following z-y′-x″ (intrinsic rotations) convention, coincident with angles zero. Therefore,
are also known as nautical angles, because they can be used to this norm would force also a compatible
axes convention in the reference system
describe the orientation of a ship or aircraft, or Cardan angles, after
the Italian mathematician and physicist Gerolamo Cardano, who first
described in detail the Cardan suspension and the Cardan joint.

Angles of a given frame

A common problem is to find the Euler angles of a given frame. The
fastest way to get them is to write the three given vectors as columns of a
matrix and compare it with the expression of the theoretical matrix (see Mnemonics to remember angle
later table of matrices). Hence the three Euler Angles can be calculated. names
Nevertheless, the same result can be reached avoiding matrix algebra and
using only elemental geometry. Here we present the results for the two
most commonly used conventions: ZXZ for proper Euler angles and ZYX for
Tait–Bryan. Notice that any other convention can be obtained just changing
the name of the axes.

Proper Euler angles

Assuming a frame with unit vectors (X, Y, Z) given by their coordinates as in

the main diagram, it can be seen that:

And, since Projections of Z vector

for we have

As is the double projection of a unitary vector,

There is a similar construction for , projecting it first over the plane defined
by the axis z and the line of nodes. As the angle between the planes is
and , this leads to:

and finally, using the inverse cosine function,

Projections of Y vector

Tait–Bryan angles

Assuming a frame with unit vectors (X, Y, Z) given by their coordinates as

in this new diagram (notice that the angle theta is negative), it can be seen
that:

As before,

for we have
Projections of x-axis after three Tait–
Bryan rotations. Notice that theta is
a negative rotation around the axis
in a way analogous to the former one: y′.

Looking for similar expressions to the former ones:

Last remarks

Note that the inverse sine and cosine functions yield two possible values for the argument. In this geometrical
description, only one of the solutions is valid. When Euler angles are defined as a sequence of rotations, all the
solutions can be valid, but there will be only one inside the angle ranges. This is because the sequence of rotations
to reach the target frame is not unique if the ranges are not previously defined.[2]
For computational purposes, it may be useful to represent the angles using atan2(y, x). For example, in the case of
proper Euler angles:

Conversion to other orientation representations

Euler angles are one way to represent orientations. There are others, and it is possible to change to and from other
conventions. Three parameters are always required to describe orientations in a 3-dimensional Euclidean space.
They can be given in several ways, Euler angles being one of them; see charts on SO(3) for others.

The most used orientation representation are the rotation matrices, the axis-angle and the quaternions, also known
as Euler–Rodrigues parameters, which provide another mechanism for representing 3D rotations. This is
equivalent to the special unitary group description.

Expressing rotations in 3D as unit quaternions instead of matrices has some advantages:

Concatenating rotations is computationally faster and numerically more stable.

Extracting the angle and axis of rotation is simpler.
Interpolation is more straightforward. See for example slerp.
Quaternions do not suffer from gimbal lock as Euler angles do.

Regardless, the rotation matrix calculation is the first step for obtaining the other two representations.

Rotation matrix

Any orientation can be achieved by composing three elemental rotations, starting from a known standard
orientation. Equivalently, any rotation matrix R can be decomposed as a product of three elemental rotation
matrices. For instance:

is a rotation matrix that may be used to represent a composition of extrinsic rotations about axes z, y, x, (in that
order), or a composition of intrinsic rotations about axes x-y′-z″ (in that order). However, both the definition of the
elemental rotation matrices X, Y, Z, and their multiplication order depend on the choices taken by the user about
the definition of both rotation matrices and Euler angles (see, for instance, Ambiguities in the definition of rotation
matrices). Unfortunately, different sets of conventions are adopted by users in different contexts. The following
table was built according to this set of conventions:

1. Each matrix is meant to operate by pre-multiplying column vectors (see Ambiguities in the

definition of rotation matrices)

2. Each matrix is meant to represent an active rotation (the composing and composed matrices are
supposed to act on the coordinates of vectors defined in the initial fixed reference frame and give
as a result the coordinates of a rotated vector defined in the same reference frame).
3. Each matrix is meant to represent, primarily, a composition of intrinsic rotations (around the axes of
the rotating reference frame) and, secondarily, the composition of three extrinsic rotations (which
corresponds to the constructive evaluation of the R matrix by the multiplication of three truly
elemental matrices, in reverse order).
4. Right handed reference frames are adopted, and the right hand rule is used to determine the sign
of the angles α, β, γ.
For the sake of simplicity, the following table of matrix products uses the following nomenclature:

1. 1, 2, 3 represent the angles α, β and γ, i.e. the angles corresponding to the first, second and third
elemental rotations respectively.
2. X, Y, Z are the matrices representing the elemental rotations about the axes x, y, z of the fixed
frame (e.g., X1 represents a rotation about x by an angle α).
3. s and c represent sine and cosine (e.g., s1 represents the sine of α).

Proper Euler angles Tait–Bryan angles

These tabular results are available in numerous textbooks.[3] For each column the last row constitutes the most
commonly used convention.

To change the formulas for passive rotations (or find reverse active rotation), transpose the matrices (then each
matrix transforms the initial coordinates of a vector remaining fixed to the coordinates of the same vector
measured in the rotated reference system; same rotation axis, same angles, but now the coordinate system rotates,
rather than the vector).

The following table contains formulas for angles α, β and γ from elements of a rotation matrix .[4]
 Proper Euler angles Tait–Bryan angles

Properties
The Euler angles form a chart on all of SO(3), the special orthogonal group of rotations in 3D space. The chart is
smooth except for a polar coordinate style singularity along β = 0. See charts on SO(3) for a more complete
treatment.

The space of rotations is called in general "The Hypersphere of rotations", though this is a misnomer: the group
Spin(3) is isometric to the hypersphere S3 , but the rotation space SO(3) is instead isometric to the real projective
space RP3 which is a 2-fold quotient space of the hypersphere. This 2-to-1 ambiguity is the mathematical origin
of spin in physics.

A similar three angle decomposition applies to SU(2), the special unitary group of rotations in complex 2D space,
with the difference that β ranges from 0 to 2π . These are also called Euler angles.

The Haar measure for SO(3) in Euler angles is given by the Hopf angle parametrisation of SO(3),
,[5] where parametrise , the space of rotation axes.
For example, to generate uniformly randomized orientations, let α and γ be uniform from 0 to 2π , let z be uniform
from −1 to 1, and let β = arccos(z).

Geometric algebra

Other properties of Euler angles and rotations in general can be found from the geometric algebra, a higher level
abstraction, in which the quaternions are an even subalgebra. The principal tool in geometric algebra is the rotor
where angle of rotation, is the rotation axis (unitary vector) and is the
pseudoscalar (trivector in )

Higher dimensions

It is possible to define parameters analogous to the Euler angles in dimensions higher than three.[6] In four
dimensions and above, the concept of "rotation about an axis" loses meaning and instead becomes "rotation in a
plane." The number of Euler angles needed to represent the group SO(n) is n(n − 1)/2 , equal to the number of
planes containing two distinct coordinate axes in n-dimensional Euclidean space.

In SO(4) a rotation matrix is defined by two unit quaternions, and therefore has six degrees of freedom, three from
each quaternion.

Applications

Vehicles and moving frames

Their main advantage over other orientation descriptions is that they are directly measurable from a gimbal
mounted in a vehicle. As gyroscopes keep their rotation axis constant, angles measured in a gyro frame are
equivalent to angles measured in the lab frame. Therefore, gyros are used to know the actual orientation of
moving spacecraft, and Euler angles are directly measurable. Intrinsic rotation angle cannot be read from a single
gimbal, so there has to be more than one gimbal in a spacecraft. Normally there are at least three for redundancy.
There is also a relation to the well-known gimbal lock problem of mechanical engineering.[7]

When studying rigid bodies in general, one calls the xyz system space coordinates, and the XYZ system body
coordinates. The space coordinates are treated as unmoving, while the body coordinates are considered embedded
in the moving body. Calculations involving acceleration, angular acceleration, angular velocity, angular
momentum, and kinetic energy are often easiest in body coordinates, because then the moment of inertia tensor
does not change in time. If one also diagonalizes the rigid body's moment of inertia tensor (with nine components,
six of which are independent), then one has a set of coordinates (called the principal axes) in which the moment of
inertia tensor has only three components.

The angular velocity of a rigid body takes a simple form using Euler angles in the moving frame. Also the Euler's
rigid body equations are simpler because the inertia tensor is constant in that frame.

Crystallographic texture

In materials science, crystallographic texture (or preferred orientation) can be described using Euler angles. In
texture analysis, the Euler angles provide a mathematical depiction of the orientation of individual crystallites
within a polycrystalline material, allowing for the quantitative description of the macroscopic material.[9] The most
common definition of the angles is due to Bunge and corresponds to the
ZXZ convention. It is important to note, however, that the application
generally involves axis transformations of tensor quantities, i.e. passive
rotations. Thus the matrix that corresponds to the Bunge Euler angles is
the transpose of that shown in the table above.[10]

Others
Pole figures displaying
Euler angles, normally in the Tait–Bryan convention, are also used in crystallographic texture of gamma-
robotics for speaking about the degrees of freedom of a wrist. They are TiAl in an alpha2-gamma alloy, as
also used in electronic stability control in a similar way. measured by high energy X-rays.[8]

Gun fire control systems require corrections to gun-order angles (bearing

and elevation) to compensate for deck tilt (pitch and roll). In traditional
systems, a stabilizing gyroscope with a vertical spin axis corrects for deck
tilt, and stabilizes the optical sights and radar antenna. However, gun
barrels point in a direction different from the line of sight to the target, to
anticipate target movement and fall of the projectile due to gravity, among
other factors. Gun mounts roll and pitch with the deck plane, but also
require stabilization. Gun orders include angles computed from the vertical
gyro data, and those computations involve Euler angles.

Euler angles are also used extensively in the quantum mechanics of

angular momentum. In quantum mechanics, explicit descriptions of the
representations of SO(3) are very important for calculations, and almost all
the work has been done using Euler angles. In the early history of Industrial robot operating in a
quantum mechanics, when physicists and chemists had a sharply negative foundry
reaction towards abstract group theoretic methods (called the
Gruppenpest), reliance on Euler angles was also essential for basic
theoretical work.

Many mobile computing devices contain accelerometers which can determine these devices' Euler angles with
respect to the earth's gravitational attraction. These are used in applications such as games, bubble level
simulations, and kaleidoscopes.

See also
3D projection
Axis-angle representation
Conversion between quaternions and Euler angles
Davenport chained rotations
Euler's rotation theorem
Gimbal lock
Quaternion
Quaternions and spatial rotation
Rotation formalisms in three dimensions
Spherical coordinate system

References
1. Novi Commentarii academiae scientiarum Petropolitanae 20, 1776, pp. 189–207 (E478) PDF (http
s://math.dartmouth.edu/~euler/docs/originals/E478.pdf)
 2. Gregory G. Slabaugh, Computing Euler angles from a rotation matrix (http://eecs.qmul.ac.uk/~gsla
baugh/publications/euler.pdf)
3. E.g. Appendix I (p. 483) of: Roithmayr, Carlos M.; Hodges, Dewey H. (2016), Dynamics: Theory
and Application of Kane's Method (1st ed.), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-1107005693
4. Henderson, D. M. (1977-06-09). "Euler angles, quaternions, and transformation matrices for space
shuttle analysis" (https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19770019231): 12–24.
5. Yershova, A.; Jain, S.; Lavalle, S. M.; Mitchell, J. C. (2010). "Generating Uniform Incremental Grids
on SO(3) Using the Hopf Fibration" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2896220). The
International Journal of Robotics Research. 29 (7). Section 8 – Derivation of Hopf parametrisation.
doi:10.1177/0278364909352700 (https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0278364909352700). PMC 2896220
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2896220). PMID 20607113 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nl
m.nih.gov/20607113).
6. (in Italian) A generalization of Euler Angles to n-dimensional real spaces (http://ansi.altervista.org)
7. The relation between the Euler angles and the Cardan suspension is explained in chap. 11.7 of
the following textbook: U. Krey, A. Owen, Basic Theoretical Physics – A Concise Overview, New
York, London, Berlin, Heidelberg, Springer (2007) .
8. Liss KD, Bartels A, Schreyer A, Clemens H (2003). "High energy X-rays: A tool for advanced bulk
investigations in materials science and physics" (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F07303300310001634
952). Textures Microstruct. 35 (3/4): 219–52. doi:10.1080/07303300310001634952 (https://doi.org/
10.1080%2F07303300310001634952).
9. Kocks, U.F.; Tomé, C.N.; Wenk, H.-R. (2000), Texture and Anisotropy: Preferred Orientations in
Polycrystals and their effect on Materials Properties, Cambridge, ISBN 978-0-521-79420-6
10. Bunge, H. (1993), Texture Analysis in Materials Science: Mathematical Methods, Cuvillier Verlag,
ASIN B0014XV9HU (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0014XV9HU)

Bibliography
Biedenharn, L. C.; Louck, J. D. (1981), Angular Momentum in Quantum Physics, Reading, MA:
Addison–Wesley, ISBN 978-0-201-13507-7
Goldstein, Herbert (1980), Classical Mechanics (2nd ed.), Reading, MA: Addison–Wesley,
ISBN 978-0-201-02918-5
Gray, Andrew (1918), A Treatise on Gyrostatics and Rotational Motion, London: Macmillan
(published 2007), ISBN 978-1-4212-5592-7
Rose, M. E. (1957), Elementary Theory of Angular Momentum, New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons
(published 1995), ISBN 978-0-486-68480-2
Symon, Keith (1971), Mechanics, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, ISBN 978-0-201-07392-8
Landau, L.D.; Lifshitz, E. M. (1996), Mechanics (3rd ed.), Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann,
ISBN 978-0-7506-2896-9

External links
"Euler angles" (https://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php?title=Euler_angles), Encyclopedia
of Mathematics, EMS Press, 2001 [1994]
Weisstein, Eric W. "Euler Angles" (https://mathworld.wolfram.com/EulerAngles.html). MathWorld.
David Eberly. Euler Angle Formulas (https://www.geometrictools.com/Documentation/EulerAngles.
pdf), Geometric Tools
An interactive tutorial on Euler angles available at https://www.mecademic.com/en/how-is-
orientation-in-space-represented-with-euler-angles
EulerAngles (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/eulerangles/id584911325) – an iOS app for
visualizing in 3D the three rotations associated with Euler angles
Orientation Library (https://sourceforge.net/projects/orilib) – "orilib", a collection of routines for
rotation / orientation manipulation, including special tools for crystal orientations
 Online tool to convert rotation matrices available at rotation converter (https://www.andre-gaschler.
com/rotationconverter) (numerical conversion)
Online tool to convert symbolic rotation matrices (dead, but still available from the Wayback
Machine) symbolic rotation converter (https://web.archive.org/web/20131208033145/http://vectoral
gebra.info/eulermatrix.html)
Rotation, Reflection, and Frame Change: Orthogonal tensors in computational engineering
mechanics (http://iopscience.iop.org/book/978-0-7503-1454-1), IOP Publishing
Euler Angles, Quaternions, and Transformation Matrices for Space Shuttle Analysis (https://ntrs.na
sa.gov/api/citations/19770019231/downloads/19770019231.pdf), NASA

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Euler_angles&oldid=1160186404"