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    Lecture V

    Uploaded by

    John Wanyoike Makau
    The document defines the divergence and curl of a vector field. The divergence of a vector field is a scalar function that represents the net outward flux of the vector from a small volume. In Cartesian coordinates, the divergence is the sum of the partial derivatives of the vector components with respect to x, y, and z. The curl of a vector field is another vector function that represents the circulation density of the vector around an infinitesimal loop. In Cartesian coordinates, the curl is calculated from the partial derivatives of the vector components.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Lecture V

    Uploaded by

    John Wanyoike Makau
    22 views4 pages
    The document defines the divergence and curl of a vector field. The divergence of a vector field is a scalar function that represents the net outward flux of the vector from a small volume. In Cartesian coordinates, the divergence is the sum of the partial derivatives of the vector components with respect to x, y, and z. The curl of a vector field is another vector function that represents the circulation density of the vector around an infinitesimal loop. In Cartesian coordinates, the curl is calculated from the partial derivatives of the vector components.

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    school lessons

    Original Title

    LECTURE_V

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    The document defines the divergence and curl of a vector field. The divergence of a vector field is a scalar function that represents the net outward flux of the vector from a small volume. In Cartesian coordinates, the divergence is the sum of the partial derivatives of the vector components with respect to x, y, and z. The curl of a vector field is another vector function that represents the circulation density of the vector around an infinitesimal loop. In Cartesian coordinates, the curl is calculated from the partial derivatives of the vector components.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    22 views4 pages

    Lecture V

    Uploaded by

    John Wanyoike Makau
    The document defines the divergence and curl of a vector field. The divergence of a vector field is a scalar function that represents the net outward flux of the vector from a small volume. In Cartesian coordinates, the divergence is the sum of the partial derivatives of the vector components with respect to x, y, and z. The curl of a vector field is another vector function that represents the circulation density of the vector around an infinitesimal loop. In Cartesian coordinates, the curl is calculated from the partial derivatives of the vector components.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 4

    2.

    3 Divergence of a Vector Field



    The divergence of a vector field Ais defined as

    A A V = div (12)

    whereV is the del operator defined in equation (4).

    In Cartesian coordinates

    ( )
    z y x
    A k A j A i
    z
    k
    y
    j
    x
    i div

    + +
    |
    |
    .
    |

    \
    |
    c
    c
    +
    c
    c
    +
    c
    c
    = A (13a)

    or

    z
    A
    y
    A
    x
    A
    div
    z
    y
    x
    c
    c
    +
    c
    c
    +
    c
    c
    = A (13b)

    The divergence of a vector field is a scalar function.

    To investigate the geometrical interpretation of the divergence of a vector field A, consider
    an infinitesimal volume element z y x A A A = At , which is located in the vector field as shown




    The flux of a vector field Athrough an infinitesimal surface vector element s A , of a closed
    surface, is defined as

    s nA = A = A s A (14)

    x A
    y A
    z A
    ( ) z y x x A
    x
    , , A +
    ( ) z y x A
    x
    , ,
    ( ) z y y x A
    y
    , , A +
    ( ) z y x A
    y
    , ,
    ( ) z z y x A
    z
    A + , ,
    ( ) z y x A
    z
    , ,
    where n is a unit vector pointing perpendicularly outward from the closed surface.

    The flux of vector Athrough the rear face of the volume element is then given by

    ( ) z y z y x A
    x
    backface
    A A = , , (15)

    and the flux through the front face is

    ( ) z y z y x x A
    x
    frontface
    A A A + = , , (16)

    In obtaining equations (15) and (16) we assume that the infinitesimal area z yA A is small
    enough such that the components ( ) z y x A
    x
    , , and ( ) z y x x A
    x
    , , A + of Aalong the x- axis do not
    vary appreciably over the surface element.

    Also we note that the components of Aalong the y- , and z- axes do not contribute to the flux
    through the back and front faces since these components are parallel to the two faces.

    Similarly the flux of vector Athrough the left and right faces of the volume element is given
    respectively by
    ( ) z x z y x A
    y
    leftface
    A A = , , (17)

    ( ) z x z y y x A
    y
    rightface
    A A A + = , , (18)

    Lastly, for the flux through the bottom and top faces we have

    ( ) y x z y x A
    z
    bottomface
    A A = , , (19)

    ( ) y x z z y x A
    z
    topface
    A A A + = , , (20)

    The net flux of vector Athrough the volume element t A is then

    ( ) ( ) | | ( ) ( ) | | z x z y x A z y y x A z y z y x A z y x x A
    y y x x
    net
    A A A + + A A A + = , , , , , , , ,

    ( ) ( ) | | y x z y x A z z y x A
    z z
    A A A + + , , , , (21)

    Dividing equation (21) by t A we obtain the net flux of vector Aper unit volume


    ( ) ( ) | |
    ( ) ( ) | |
    y
    z y x A z y y x A
    x
    z y x A z y x x A
    y y
    x x
    net
    A
    A +
    +
    A
    A +
    =
    A
    , , , ,
    , , , ,
    t



    ( ) ( ) | |
    z
    z y x A z z y x A
    z z
    A
    A +
    +
    , , , ,
    (22)

    Since the volume element is very small, x A , y A , and z A , all tend to zero, and we may use the
    definition of the partial derivative to write equation (22) as

    A V =
    c
    c
    +
    c
    c
    +
    c
    c
    =
    A z
    A
    y
    A
    x
    A
    z
    y
    x
    net
    t

    (23)

    Thus the divergence of a vector field Aat a point is the net outward flux of Aper unit volume
    as the volume becomes infinitesimal.


    2.4 The Laplacian of a Scalar Field

    The divergence of the gradient of a scalar field is also defined thus

    ( ) u V V = u divgrad

    |
    |
    .
    |

    \
    |
    c
    u c
    +
    c
    u c
    +
    c
    u c

    |
    |
    .
    |

    \
    |
    c
    c
    +
    c
    c
    +
    c
    c
    =
    z
    k
    y
    j
    x
    i
    z
    k
    y
    j
    x
    i



    |
    .
    |

    \
    |
    c
    u c
    c
    c
    +
    |
    |
    .
    |

    \
    |
    c
    u c
    c
    c
    + |
    .
    |

    \
    |
    c
    u c
    c
    c
    =
    z z y y x x


    2
    2
    2
    2
    2
    2
    z y x c
    u c
    +
    c
    u c
    +
    c
    u c
    = (24)


    where
    2 2
    x c u c ,
    2 2
    y c u c , and
    2 2
    z c u c is the second partial derivative of uwith respect to x,
    y, and z respectively.

    The divergence of the gradient may also be written as

    ( ) u V = u V V = u
    2
    divgrad (25)

    where

    2
    2
    2
    2
    2
    2
    2
    z y x c
    c
    +
    c
    c
    +
    c
    c
    = V (26)

    is called the Laplacian operator.

    This operator occurs in many equations of mathematical physics such as the heat equation
    and the wave equation.



    2.5 Curl of a Vector Field

    The Curl of a vector field Ais defined as

    A A V = curl (27)

    whereV is the del operator.

    In Cartesian coordinates we have

    ( )
    z y x
    A k A j A i
    z
    k
    y
    j
    x
    i curl

    + +
    |
    |
    .
    |

    \
    |
    c
    c
    +
    c
    c
    +
    c
    c
    = A

    ( ) ( ) ( )
    y
    A
    i j
    x
    A
    k i
    x
    A
    j i
    x z
    y
    c
    c
    +
    c
    c
    +
    c
    c
    =



    ( ) ( ) ( )
    z
    A
    j k
    z
    A
    i k
    y
    A
    k j
    y
    x z
    c
    c
    +
    c
    c
    +
    c
    c
    +



    z
    A
    i
    z
    A
    j
    y
    A
    i
    y
    A
    k
    x
    A
    j
    x
    A
    k
    y
    x z x z
    y
    c
    c

    c
    c
    +
    c
    c
    +
    c
    c

    c
    c

    c
    c
    =

    (28)

    Rearranging equation (28) yields


    |
    |
    .
    |

    \
    |
    c
    c

    c
    c
    + |
    .
    |

    \
    |
    c
    c

    c
    c
    +
    |
    |
    .
    |

    \
    |
    c
    c

    c
    c
    =
    y
    A
    x
    A
    k
    x
    A
    z
    A
    j
    z
    A
    y
    A
    i curl
    x
    y
    z x
    y
    z
    A (29)

    Equation (29) may be written compactly as

    z y x
    A A A
    z y x
    k j i
    curl
    c
    c
    c
    c
    c
    c
    =

    A (30)

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