Scribd
Upload
15 views4 pages

Curl and Conservative Vector Fields

The document discusses curl and divergence, which are operations performed on vector fields. Curl measures the tendency of a vector field to rotate and is calculated by taking partial derivatives. Divergence measures how a vector field spreads out from a point and is also calculated using partial derivatives. Examples are provided to demonstrate calculating curl and divergence for specific vector fields. Green's theorem, which relates a line integral around a closed curve to a surface integral, is also generalized to three dimensions using curl.

Uploaded by

Anonymous L21MIUqA
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
15 views4 pages

Curl and Conservative Vector Fields

The document discusses curl and divergence, which are operations performed on vector fields. Curl measures the tendency of a vector field to rotate and is calculated by taking partial derivatives. Divergence measures how a vector field spreads out from a point and is also calculated using partial derivatives. Examples are provided to demonstrate calculating curl and divergence for specific vector fields. Green's theorem, which relates a line integral around a closed curve to a surface integral, is also generalized to three dimensions using curl.

Uploaded by

Anonymous L21MIUqA
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Section 16.

5: Curl and Divergence


Curl

The curl of a 3-D vector field 𝐹𝐹⃗ is another vector field having
magnitude equal to the maximum circulation at each point, and
direction perpendicular to the plane of circulation for each point.
If 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝐹𝐹⃗ = �0⃗ at a point P, then 𝐹𝐹⃗ is called irrotational at P.
�⃗ is a vector
Calculation of 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝐹𝐹⃗ is quite simple. If 𝐹𝐹⃗ = 𝑃𝑃𝚤𝚤⃗ + 𝑄𝑄𝚥𝚥⃗ + 𝑅𝑅𝑘𝑘
field on ℝ3 and the partial derivatives of P, Q, and R all exist, then the
curl of 𝐹𝐹⃗ is the vector field on ℝ3 defined by

𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕
�⃗ , and think of it as a
If we introduce the vector differential operator ∇ (“del”) as ∇ = 𝚤𝚤⃗ 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 + 𝚥𝚥⃗ 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 + 𝑘𝑘 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕
𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕
vector with components 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕, 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕, and 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕, then a shortcut for remembering the above formula is given by

Facts about the Curl of a Vector Field


1. If 𝑓𝑓 is a function of three variables that has continuous second-order partial derivatives, then
𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐(∇𝑓𝑓) = �0⃗.
2. If 𝐹𝐹⃗ is conservative, then 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝐹𝐹⃗ = �⃗ 0.
3. If 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝐹𝐹⃗ ≠ �0⃗, then 𝐹𝐹⃗ is not conservative.
4. If 𝐹𝐹⃗ is a vector field defined on all of ℝ3 whose component functions have continuous partial
derivatives and 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝐹𝐹⃗ = �⃗ 0, then 𝐹𝐹⃗ is a conservative a vector field.

Exercise 1: Is the vector field 𝐹𝐹⃗ conservative?


�⃗
𝐹𝐹⃗ (𝑥𝑥, 𝑦𝑦, 𝑧𝑧) = 𝑥𝑥 3 𝑦𝑦𝑧𝑧 2 𝚥𝚥⃗ + 𝑦𝑦 4 𝑧𝑧 3 𝑘𝑘

1
Exercise 2: Is the vector field 𝐹𝐹⃗ conservative?
�⃗
𝐹𝐹⃗ (𝑥𝑥, 𝑦𝑦, 𝑧𝑧) = 𝚤𝚤⃗ + sin 𝑧𝑧 𝚥𝚥⃗ + 𝑦𝑦 cos 𝑧𝑧 𝑘𝑘

Divergence

We also have a physical interpretation of the divergence. If we again think of 𝐹𝐹⃗ as the velocity field of a
flowing fluid, then 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝐹𝐹⃗ (𝑥𝑥, 𝑦𝑦, 𝑧𝑧), a scalar quantity, represents the net rate of change (with respect to
time) of the mass of the fluid flowing from the point (𝑥𝑥, 𝑦𝑦, 𝑧𝑧) per unit volume. This can also be thought
of as the tendency of the fluid to diverge from a point. If 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝐹𝐹⃗ = 0, then 𝐹𝐹⃗ is said to be
incompressible.

�⃗ is a vector field on ℝ3 and 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕,


Calculation of 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝐹𝐹⃗ is also quite simple. If 𝐹𝐹⃗ = 𝑃𝑃𝚤𝚤⃗ + 𝑄𝑄𝚥𝚥⃗ + 𝑅𝑅𝑘𝑘
𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕
, and
𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕
𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕
𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕
all exist, then the divergence of 𝐹𝐹⃗ is the function of three variables defined by

𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕
�⃗ , we have
In terms of the del operator, ∇= �𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕� 𝚤𝚤⃗ + �𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕� 𝚥𝚥⃗ + �𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕� 𝑘𝑘

�⃗ .
Exercise 3: Find the divergence of the vector field 𝐹𝐹⃗ (𝑥𝑥, 𝑦𝑦, 𝑧𝑧) = 𝑥𝑥 3 𝑦𝑦𝑧𝑧 2 𝚥𝚥⃗ + 𝑦𝑦 4 𝑧𝑧 3 𝑘𝑘

2
Exercise 4: The 3-D vector field 𝐹𝐹⃗ is shown in the xy-plane
and looks the same in all other horizontal planes.

a. Is 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝐹𝐹⃗ positive, negative, or zero? Explain.


b. Determine whether 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝐹𝐹⃗ = �⃗ 0.

3
Revisiting Green’s Theorem
Recall Green’s Theorem from Section 16.4:

𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕
� 𝐹𝐹⃑ ∙ 𝑑𝑑𝑟𝑟⃑ = � 𝑃𝑃 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 + 𝑄𝑄 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = � � − � 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝐹𝐹⃑ = 𝑃𝑃𝚤𝚤⃗ + 𝑄𝑄𝚥𝚥⃗
𝐶𝐶 𝐶𝐶 𝐷𝐷 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕
�⃗ , we
If we instead think of 𝐹𝐹⃑ as a vector field on ℝ3 with third component zero, i.e. 𝐹𝐹⃑ = 𝑃𝑃𝚤𝚤⃗ + 𝑄𝑄𝚥𝚥⃗ + 0𝑘𝑘
have

𝚤𝚤⃗ 𝚥𝚥⃗ �⃗
𝑘𝑘
𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕
𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝐹𝐹⃗ = ∇ × 𝐹𝐹⃗ = � 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 �⃗
� = �𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 − 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 � 𝑘𝑘
𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕
𝑃𝑃 𝑄𝑄 0
�⃗ = �𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 − 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕� 𝑘𝑘
Then �𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝐹𝐹⃗ � ∙ 𝑘𝑘 �⃗ = 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 − 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕
�⃗ ∙ 𝑘𝑘
𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕

Therefore Green’s Theorem can be written as

�⃗ 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
� 𝐹𝐹⃑ ∙ 𝑑𝑑𝑟𝑟⃑ = � �𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 𝐹𝐹⃗ � ∙ 𝑘𝑘 𝑤𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝐹𝐹⃑ = 𝑃𝑃𝚤𝚤⃗ + 𝑄𝑄𝚥𝚥⃗
𝐶𝐶 𝐷𝐷

You might also like