Vector Fields

In this topic: (1) Define vector fields in and

(2) Sketch some vector field graphs.
By and large, a vector field is a function that assigns a vector to each point in a set of
ordered pairs. Notice that it may be impossible to draw every vector in a vector field (drawing
a vector at every point in space); even so, drawing a few key representatives (vectors) usually
will give a reasonable impression of a vector field. Common examples of vector fields include
force fields, velocity fields, gravitational fields, magnetic fields, and electric fields.
Vector fields can be used to quantify the amount of work done by variable force acting on a
moving body. Measuring the amount of force (fluid flow, electric charge, etc.) can sometimes
be achieved by computing an integral of a vector field with respect to an orientable curve or
surface.
Definition (Vector Field) A vector field in is a function that assigns a vector to each
point in its domain. A vector field with domain in has the form

where the scalar functions and are called the components of A continuous vector field
is one whose components are continuous.
To visualize a particular vector field it often helps to select a number of points in the
domain of and then draw an arrow emanating from each point with the direction of
and length representing the magnitude We will refer to such a
representation as the graph of
Example (Vector Field) Sketch some representations for each of the following vector fields.

Divergence and Curl

In this topic: (1) Define the del operator and the divergence and curl of a vector field.
(2) If find and
1
 (3) Let be a constant vector field. Show that and
(4) Define the Laplacian operator.
(5) State the basic properties of the divergence and curl.
Definition (Del, Divergence, and Curl) Let be a given vector field. The divergence of is
defined by
and the curl of is defined by where

is the del operator.

Example (Divergence) If find and
Solution. We obtain,

and

Example (Constant Vector Field) Let be a constant vector field. Show that and

Solution. Let for constants and Then

and
Definition (Laplacian Operator) Let define a function with continuous first and second
partial derivatives. Then the Laplacian of is

The equation is called Laplacian's equation, and a function that satisfies it in a region
is said to be harmonic on
Proposition (Div-Curl Properties) Let and be vector fields with component functions that
have continuous first and second partial derivatives. Then
(i) (ii) (iii)
(iv) (v) (vi)
(vii) (viii)
(ix) (x)

Conservative Vector Fields

In this topic: (1) Define a gradient vector field.

(2) Define a conservative vector field and a scalar potential function.
2
 (3) If then find a function such that
(4) Define a connected region.
(5) State an equivalent condition for a vector field to be conservative in
(6) State an equivalent condition for a vector field to be conservative in

(7) Show that the vector field is conservative

and find the scalar potential function.
Definition (Gradient Field) Let be a differentiable function. The vector field obtained by
applying the del
operator to is called the gradient field of
Definition (Conservative Vector Field) A vector field is said to be conservative in a region
if for
some scalar function in The function is called a scalar potential of in .
Example (Scalar Potential) If then find a
function
such that
Solution. If there is such a function, then

Integrating with respect to

Then differentiating with respect to we have
and this yields Thus and we have

Finally, differentiating with respect to and comparing, we obtain and therefore,

a constant. The desired function is
with
Definition (Connected Regions) A region in the plane is called connected (one piece) if it
has the property:
(i) any two points in the region can be connected by a piecewise smooth curve lying entirely
within
and a simply connected region (no holes) is a connected region that has the property:
(ii) every closed curve in encloses only points that are in
Proposition (Conservative Vector Field) Consider the vector field

where and have continuous first partials in the open, simply connected region in the

plane. Then is conservative in if and only if on

Example (Conservative Vector Field) Determine whether or not the vector field
is conservative.

Solution. Let and Then since

is not a conservative vector field.

3
Proposition (Criterion for Conservative Vector Field) Suppose that the vector field and
are both continuous in the simply connected region of Then is conservative in if and
only if
Note that a vector field
in can be regarded as the vector field
in Since

we have if and only if

Example (Criterion for Conservative Vector Field) Show that the vector field

is conservative and find the scalar potential function.

Solution. Since is conservative. Now we set out to find

Since we set

Since

so and so we set

Since
so and so we set

Line Integrals

In this topic: (1) Define a line integral on a piecewise smooth curve.

(2) State a proposition on how to evaluate a line integral given parametric equation for the
curve.
(3) State three basic properties of line integrals.

(4) Evaluate where is the circular helix given by the equations

(5) Evaluate where consists of the line segment from to

followed by the vertical line segment from to
Line integrals have a great many applications in the sciences, but were originally
constructed mainly to compute work and mass in physics. Generally, if direction can be
described along a curve using a parametric representation (called an orientable curve), then

4
as a generalization of the Riemann integral it is possible to define a line integral where
Riemann sums are constructed along the piecewise-smooth orientable curve.
Definition (Line Integral) Let be a smooth curve, with parametric equations
and for that lies within the domain of a function We say that is
orientable if it is possible to describe direction along the curve for increasing Partition into
sub-arcs, the of which has length Let be a point chosen arbitrarily from the

sub-arc. Form the Riemann sum and let denote the largest sub-arc
length in the partition. Then, if the limit

exists, we call this limit the line integral of over and denote it by

Additionally, if is a closed curve, then we denote the line integral by

Proposition (Line Integral) Suppose that the function is continuous at each point on a
smooth curve
, with parametric equations and for that lies within the
domain of

Then exists and and thus

The definition of a line integral can be extended to curves that are piecewise smooth in the
sense that they are the union of a finite number of smooth curves with only endpoints in
common. In particular, if is comprised of a number of smooth sub-arcs then

Proposition (Properties of Line Integrals) Let and be scalar functions defined on a

piecewise smooth
orientable curve Then, for any constants and
(i) Linearity rule:

(ii) Subdivision rule:

where is the union of smooth orientable sub-arcs with only endpoints in

common.
(iii) Opposite direction rule:

5
Example (Line Integral) Evaluate where is the circular helix given by the
equations

Solution. We compute,

Other line integrals are obtained by replacing by This is called the line
integral of along with respect to

and similarly with respect to and ,

and

When we want to distinguish the original line integral from these, we call it the line
integral with respect to arc length. The following formulas say that the line integrals with
respect to or can also be evaluated by expressing everything in terms of :
and yielding:

and

Example (Line Integral Evaluation) Evaluate where consists of the line

segment
from to followed by the vertical line segment from to

Solution. The curve is the union of the curves

and the curve

Thus

6
Line Integral of a Vector Field

In this topic: (1) Define a line integral of a vector field and state how to evaluate it.
(2) State the fact that the value of a line integrals does not depend on the parameterization
of the given
curve and show an example.
Definition (Line Integral of Vector Field)
Let
be a vector field, and let be a piecewise smooth orientable curve with parametric
representation

Using we define the line integral of along by

Proposition (Line Integral of Vector Field) Let be a smooth curve and let be a
continuous function
with domain containing the trace of Then the value of the integrals

depends only on the initial point terminal point and the trace of That is, two different
parametrizations having the same trace from to yield the same values for these integrals.
Example (Line Integral of Vector Field) Consider the smooth curves

and
Both and are smooth curves from to with the same trace which is the portion of

the parabola for For we have and therefore

For we have and therefore

Work as a Line Integral

In this topic: (1) State the relationship between a line integral and the work performed as
an object moves
along a smooth curve .
(2) Find the work done by the force field on an object moving along
the curve

7
 defined parametrically by for
If an object moves along a line with displacement in a constant force (vector) field the
work done is We will generalize the concept of work to a variable force field and
where the object moves along a smooth orientable curve Assume that is subdivided into
sub-arcs and let be a point in the th sub-arc. If the length of the sub-arc is
small (very small), the force will be approximately constant and we assume it has the constant
value on .
Also, the direction of motion will not change much over the sub-arc, so we can assume that
the object will move a distance of in the direction of the unit tangent vector
for a linear displacement of Therefore, we can approximate the work performed over
the sub-arc by By adding the contributions along all sub-arcs the sum

is an approximation to the total work performed as the object moves along in the
force field As the length of the largest sub-arc tends to 0, this approximating sum

approaches the value of the line integral which is considered work as a line
integral.
Proposition (Work as a Line Integral) Let be a continuous force field over a domain Then
the work performed as an object moves along a smooth curve in is given by the integral

where is the unit tangent at each point on and is the position

vector of the object moving on
Example (Work as a Line Integral) Find the work done by the force field

on an object moving along the curve defined parametrically by

Solution. We compute,

(from ) and
Thus,

Fundamental Theorem of Line Integrals

In this topic: (1) State the fundamental theorem of line integrals.

(2) Find the work done by the gravitational field (Newton's law of gravitation)

where and are the masses of two objects and is the gravitational constant, in moving a
particle from the point to the point along a piecewise smooth curve

8
Proposition (Fundamental Theorem of Line Integrals) Let be a piecewise smooth curve that
is parametrized by the vector function for and let be a vector field that is
continuous on If is a scalar function such that then

where and are the endpoints of

Proof. Suppose and let be the composite function
We have,

Example (Fundamental Theorem of Line Integrals) Find the work done by the gravitational
field (Newton's law of gravitation)

where and are the masses of two objects and is the gravitational constant, in moving a
particle from the point to the point along a piecewise smooth curve

Solution. We have where Therefore,

Independence of Path

In this topic: (1) Define independence of path.

(2) Show that the vector field

is conservative and evaluate for any piecewise smooth path joining to

(3) State three equivalences for a vector field to be conservative.
(4) Show that no work is performed when an object moves along a closed path in a
connected domain
where the force field is conservative.
(5) Summarize strategies for computing line integrals:
In general, the value of a line integral depends on the path of integration, but in certain
cases, the line integral will be the same for all paths in a given region with the same initial
point and terminal point; and if so the line integral is called independent of path. Additionally,
a vector field that is the gradient field for a scalar function on some region is called a
conservative vector field on that region. So now recall, for functions of two variables, the
analogue of the derivative is the gradient, and the corresponding analogue of the fundamental
theorem of calculus is the fundamental theorem for line integrals, which to our advantage,
offers us a way to evaluate a line integral of a conservative vector field by simply knowing the
values of the scalar (potential) function at the endpoints of the path.
9
 In general, the value of the line integral depends on the path of integration but in
certain cases, the integral will be the same for all paths in a given region with the same
initial point and terminal point In this case, we say that the line integral is independent of
path in

Definition (Independence of Path) The line integral is independent of path in a region

if for any two points and in the line integral along every piecewise smooth curve in
from to has the same value.
Example (Criterion for Conservative Vector Field) Show that the vector field

is conservative and evaluate for any piecewise smooth path joining to

Solution. First we determine We find,

and so the vector field is conservative and we can find the scalar potential function. Now we
set out to find with Since we know that

Then, we find and so comparing this with the given we

determine that and so So far we have,

Also since, and comparing this to the given we determine and

so is a constant with respect to and Therefore, a scalar potential function is

(taking the constant to be zero). Finally,

Proposition (Independence of Path) If is a continuous vector field on the open connected
set then the following three conditions are either all true or all false:
(i) is conservative on

(ii) for every piecewise smooth closed curve in

(iii) is independent of path within

10
Example (Independence of Path) Show that no work is performed when an object moves along
a closed path in a connected domain where the force field is conservative.
Solution. In such a force field where is a scalar potential of and because the path of
motion is closed, it begins and ends at the same point Thus, the work is given by

Strategy for Line Integrals: Three ways for evaluating a given line integral , are
(i) Parametrize and use the parametrization to convert the line integral into a one-variable
integral
involving over an interval
(ii) Check to see if is conservative; if it is, then find a scalar potential function and use
the
fundamental theorem of line integrals.
(iii) If is conservative, find a convenient path with the same endpoints as and use the
fact that

since the line integral is independent of path.

Green's Theorem

In this topic: (1) State Green's theorem for imply connected regions.

(2) Use Green's theorem to evaluate the line integral around the curve
defined by the
ellipse oriented counterclockwise.

(3) Use Green's theorem to evaluate the line integral around the curve defined
by the unit
circle oriented clockwise.

(4) Use Green's theorem to evaluate the line integral around the curve
defined by the
square with vertices oriented counterclockwise.
(5) Find the work done when an object moves in the force field once
counterclockwise
around the circular path
(6) Find the work done when an object moves in the force field once
counterclockwise
around the circular path
Green's theorem elegantly yields another technique to evaluate a line integral of a vector
field and is especially important when the vector field is not conservative. To do so, Green's
theorem assumes that we have a simply connected region that is bounded by a positively
oriented piecewise smooth Jordan curve. In this case, Green's theorem offers us a way to
evaluate a line integral of a continuously differentiable vector field by computing a double
integral involving the partials of the component functions of the vector field. It can be thought
11
of as a generalization of the fundamental theorem of calculus for definite integrals because it
gives us a way to evaluate a double integral using only the values of partial antiderivatives on
the boundary of the domain of integration.
Green's theorem for doubly connected regions and alternate forms of Green's theorem
involving the curl and div of a vector field are also detailed.
Proposition (Green's Theorem) Let be a simply connected region with a piecewise smooth
boundary curve oriented counterclockwise, be a continuously differentiable
vector field on and be the tangential and normal components of respectively then

and, in vector form,

Example (Green's Theorem) Use Green's theorem to evaluate the line integral
around the curve defined by the ellipse oriented counterclockwise.
Solution. Using polar coordinates we have,

Example (Green's Theorem) Use Green's theorem to evaluate the line integral
around the curve defined by the unit circle oriented clockwise.
Solution. Using polar coordinates we have,

Example (Green's Theorem) Use Green's theorem to evaluate the line integral
around the curve defined by the square with vertices oriented
counterclockwise.
Solution. We have,

Example (Green's Theorem) Find the work done when an object moves in the force field
once counterclockwise around the circular path
Solution. We have,

Example (Green's Theorem) Find the work done when an object moves in the force field

12
 once counterclockwise around the circular path
Solution. We have,

Line Integrals for Areas

In this topic: (1) If is a region bounded by a piecewise smooth simple closed curve
oriented
counterclockwise, then the area of is given by

(2) Use a line integral to find the area enclosed by the region defined by the circle

(3) Use a line integral to find the area enclosed by the region defined by the triangle
with vertices

(4) Use a line integral to find the area enclosed by the region defined by the curve
for
Proposition (Line Integral for Area) If is a region bounded by a piecewise smooth simple
closed curve oriented counterclockwise, then the area of is given by

Example (Line Integral for Area) Use a line integral to find the area enclosed by the region
defined by the
circle
Solution. We can parametrize the circle by and for Then the area is
found by,

Example (Line Integral for Area) Use a line integral to find the area enclosed by the region
defined by the
triangle with vertices
Solution. We can parametrize the line segments by

Then the area is found by,

Example (Line Integral for Area) Use a line integral to find the area enclosed by the region
defined by the
curve for
Solution. We have,
13
by using the reduction formula,

Green's Theorem for Doubly-Connected Regions

In this topic: (1) State Green's theorem for multiply-connected regions.

(2) Evaluate where is any Jordan curve whose interior does

not
contain the point transversed counterclockwise.

(3) Evaluate where is any Jordan curve whose interior contains

the point
transversed counterclockwise.
Proposition (Green's Theorem for Doubly-Connected Regions) Let be a doubly-connected
region with a piecewise smooth outer boundary curve oriented counterclockwise and a
piecewise smooth inner boundary curve oriented clockwise and let be a
continuously differentiable vector field on then

Example (Green's Theorem for Doubly-Connected Regions) Evaluate where

is any Jordan curve whose interior does not contain the point transversed
14
counterclockwise.
Solution. We have,

Example (Green's Theorem for Doubly-Connected Regions) Evaluate where is

any
Jordan curve whose interior contains the point transversed counterclockwise.
Solution. Let be a circle centered at with radius so small that all of is contained
within Let be oriented clockwise and let be the region between and Then by
Green's Theorem for Doubly-Connected Regions,

Thus,

which is something that can be easily evaluated, using say, the parametrization

Therefore,

15