Conservative Vector Field

CONSERVATIVE
VECTOR FIELD
Students should be able to
 determine whether or not a vector field is conservative
Learning  determine a potential function for the conservative vector field
outcomes  determine the work done by the conservative vector field
 calculate the line integral along a curve C with positive orientation
using Green’s Theorem
Recall work
concept in  If a constant force of F (in the direction of motion) is applied to
move an object a distance d in a straight line, then the work exerted
physics is
Work = Force ∙ Distance
 The unit for force is N (newton) and the unit for distance is m
(meter). The unit for work is joule=(newton)(meter).
 Now suppose that the there is an angle theta between direction in
which the constant force is applied and the direction of motion.
 In this case the work is given by:
𝑊 = 𝐹 𝑑 cos(𝜃)
Recall work  Here |F| is the magnitude of the force and |d| is the distance. Let us
treat force as a vector and let D be the vector from the starting point
concept in to the ending point. We can express the above formula in terms of
physics vectors. We have
𝑊 =𝐅∙𝐃
 where the dot means the vector dot product. This formula is valid in
2 or three dimensions.
What does it mean if F is a conservative force?
Introduction
(work done by
a conservative
force)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1-Q5gT4d5U
 Recall: A vector field F is called a conservative vector field if there
exist a function f such that 𝐅 = 𝛻𝑓.
 The line integral of a conservative vector field over any smooth
curve C where C is defined by the vector function 𝐫(𝑡), 0 ≤ 𝑡 ≤ 𝑏,
What is a is ‫ 𝑏 𝐫 𝑓 = 𝐫𝑑 ∙ 𝑓𝛻 𝐶׬‬− 𝑓(𝐫 𝑎 ) . The line integral is defined to
conservative be the work done by the conservative vector field (in physics).
 The above line integral depends only on the endpoints of C. The
vector field? integral is independent of the path that C takes going from its
starting point to its ending point.
 Note: conservative vector field is also called a path-independent
vector field
 The gravitational force acting on the object 𝐱 = 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧 :
𝑚𝑀𝐺
𝐅 𝐱 =− 𝐱
𝐱3
where M = mass of the Earth
m = mass of the object x
G = gravitational constant.
Gravitational is a conservative vector field. It is because, if we define
field 𝑓 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧 =
𝑚𝑀𝐺
, then
𝑥 2 +𝑦 2 +𝑧 2
𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓
𝛻𝑓 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧 = 𝐢+ 𝐣+ 𝐤
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
−𝑚𝑀𝐺𝑥 −𝑚𝑀𝐺𝑦 −𝑚𝑀𝐺𝑧
= 2 2 2 3/2 𝐢 + 2 2 2 3/2 𝐣 + 𝐤
(𝑥 +𝑦 +𝑧 ) (𝑥 +𝑦 +𝑧 ) (𝑥 2 +𝑦 2 +𝑧 2 )3/2
= 𝐅(𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧)
Note: Gravitational force is also called gravitational field
 Find the work done by the gravitational field
𝑚𝑀𝐺
𝐅 𝐱 =− 3
𝐱
𝐱
Work done by  in moving a particle with mass m from the point (3, 4, 12) to the
point (2, 2, 0) along a piecewise-smooth curve C.
the
 Solution:
gravitational  From slide 7, 𝑓 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧 =
𝑚𝑀𝐺
field 𝑥 2 +𝑦 2 +𝑧 2
1 1
 Work = ‫ 𝑓 = 𝐫𝑑 ∙ 𝑓𝛻 𝐶׬‬2,2,0 − 𝑓 3,4,12 = 𝑚𝑀𝐺 − .
2 2 13
 Suppose a curve C (in R2 or R3) is described parametrically by 𝐫(𝑡),
where 𝑎 ≤ 𝑡 ≤ 𝑏. Then C is a simple curve if 𝐫(𝑡1 ) ≠ 𝐫(𝑡2 ) for all
𝑡1 and 𝑡2 , with 𝑎 < 𝑡1 < 𝑡2 < 𝑏; that is, C never intersects itself
between its endpoints. The curve C is closed if 𝐫 𝑎 = 𝐫(𝑏); that is
the initial and terminal points of C are the same.
TYPES OF
CURVES
 An open region R in R2 (or D in R3) is connected if it is possible to
connect any two points of R by a continuous curve lying in R. An
open region R is simply connected if every closed simple curve in R
encloses only points that are in R; that is a simply connected region
contains no hole and can’t consist of two separate pieces.
TYPES OF
REGIONS
(a) SC,C (b) SC, C (c) Not SC, Not C (d) C, Not SC
C = Connected
SC = Simply Connected
 Let 𝐅 = 𝑃, 𝑄, 𝑀 be a vector field defined on a connected and
simply connected region D of R3, where P, Q, and S have
continuous first partial derivatives on D. Then F is a conservative
vector field on D if and only if
𝜕𝑃 𝜕𝑄 𝜕𝑃 𝜕𝑀 𝜕𝑄 𝜕𝑀
TEST FOR 𝜕𝑦
= ,
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑧
=
𝜕𝑥
and
𝜕𝑧
=
𝜕𝑦
.
CONSERVATIVE For vector fields in R2, we have the single condition

𝜕𝑃
𝜕𝑦
=
𝜕𝑄
𝜕𝑥
.
VECTOR FIELD P Q M
x 𝜕𝑄 𝜕𝑀
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥
y 𝜕𝑃 𝜕𝑀
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦
z 𝜕𝑃 𝜕𝑄
𝜕𝑧 𝜕𝑧
 Determine whether or not the vector field
𝐹 𝑥, 𝑦 = 𝑥 − 𝑦 𝐢 + 𝑥 − 2 𝐣
Example 1 is conservative.
Answer: Not conservative
𝐅 𝑥, 𝑦 = 3 + 2𝑥𝑦 𝐢 + 𝑥 2 − 3𝑦 2 𝐣
Answer: Conservative
𝐅 𝑥, 𝑦 = 2𝑥𝑦 − 𝑧 2 𝐢 + 𝑥 2 + 2𝑧 𝐣 + 2𝑦 − 2𝑥𝑧 𝐤
 Answer: Conservative
 Example 4
 If 𝐅 𝑥, 𝑦 = 3 + 2𝑥𝑦 𝐢 + 𝑥 2 − 3𝑦 2 𝐣 , find a function f such that
𝐅 = 𝛻𝑓.
 Solution:
FINDING  Since F is conservative, we have
POTENTIAL  𝐅 𝑥, 𝑦 = 𝛻𝑓 𝑥, 𝑦
FUNCTIONS  3 + 2𝑥𝑦 𝐢 + 𝑥 2 − 3𝑦 2 𝐣 =
𝜕𝑓
𝜕𝑥
𝐢 +
𝜕𝑓
𝜕𝑦
𝐣
𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓
→ = 3 + 2𝑥𝑦, = 𝑥 2 − 3𝑦 2
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦
𝜕𝑓
 Step 1: Integrate with respect to x
𝜕𝑥
 We obtain: 𝑓 𝑥, 𝑦 = 3𝑥 + 𝑥 2 𝑦 + 𝑔(𝑦)
 Step 2: Differentiate f(x,y) that was obtained in Step 1, with respect
to y
𝜕𝑓
 We obtain: = 𝑥 2 + 𝑔′ (𝑦)
𝜕𝑦
FINDING  Step 3: Compute 𝑔(𝑦)
POTENTIAL 
𝜕𝑓
= 𝑥 2 + 𝑔′ 𝑦 = 𝑥 2 − 3𝑦 2 → 𝑔′ 𝑦 = −3𝑦 2
𝜕𝑦
FUNCTIONS  Integrating 𝑔′ 𝑦 with respect to y, we have
 𝑔 𝑦 = −𝑦 3 + 𝐾 where K is a constant.
 Step 4: Write the desired potential function
 𝑓 𝑥, 𝑦 = 3𝑥 + 𝑥 2 𝑦 − 𝑦 3 + 𝐾
Suppose we have a conservative vector field 𝐅 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧 = ‫ۦ‬2𝑥𝑦 −
Example 5

Conservative Vector Field

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CONSERVATIVE

CONSERVATIVE For vector fields in R2, we have the single condition

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