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Notes - Vector Valued Function (5) - Divergence Curl

This document discusses divergence and curl, which are vector operators. The divergence measures how a vector field spreads out from a point, and is a scalar quantity. It is defined as the sum of the partial derivatives of the vector field components with respect to x, y, and z. The divergence can be positive, negative, or zero, indicating whether the field spreads out from, converges toward, or flows through a point. The curl measures the rotation of a vector field and is also a vector quantity. It is defined as the cross product of the gradient operator with the vector field. The curl indicates whether the field rotates clockwise or counterclockwise about an axis, or does not rotate at all. Multiple

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992 views12 pages

Notes - Vector Valued Function (5) - Divergence Curl

This document discusses divergence and curl, which are vector operators. The divergence measures how a vector field spreads out from a point, and is a scalar quantity. It is defined as the sum of the partial derivatives of the vector field components with respect to x, y, and z. The divergence can be positive, negative, or zero, indicating whether the field spreads out from, converges toward, or flows through a point. The curl measures the rotation of a vector field and is also a vector quantity. It is defined as the cross product of the gradient operator with the vector field. The curl indicates whether the field rotates clockwise or counterclockwise about an axis, or does not rotate at all. Multiple

Uploaded by

Jason Yap Han Yuen
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

6 Divergence and Curl

 Descriptions:
 The divergence is an operator that measures
the magnitude of a vector field's source or sink
at a given point
 The divergence of a vector field is a scalar
field that tells us at each point, the extent to
which the field diverges from the point
 The divergence of a vector field is a scalar
 The divergence of a vector field
F( x, y, z )  F1 ( x, y, z )i  F2 ( x, y, z ) j  F3 ( x, y, z )k
is defined as

div F    F
    
  i  j  k   ( F1i  F2 j  F3k )
 x y z 
F F F
 1 2 3
x y z

(i) div> 0 (ii) div < 0 (iii) div = 0

27
 Curl is a vector operator that shows a vector
field's rate of rotation, i.e. the direction of the axis
of rotation and the magnitude of the rotation.
 The curl of a vector field is defined as

i j k
  
curl F    F 
x y z
F1 F2 F3
 The tendency of the fluid to swirl (or spin):

Curl > 0 (+ve vector) (pointing outward) –


rotation is counterclockwise
Curl < 0 (– ve vector) (pointing outward) –
rotation is clockwise
Curl = 0 – no rotational motion

Example 16:

Find both div F and curl F at the point (2,0,3) if

F( x, y, z )  ze2 xyi  2 xz cos yj  ( x  2 y)k


28
Example 16

Solution
div 𝐅 = 𝛻 ∙ 𝐅 =

curl 𝐅 = 𝛻 × 𝐅 =
Multiple Operations
We can combine the operators grad, div and curl in
multiple operations.
If f (x , y, z ) is a scalar field and F F1, F2, F3 a
vector field, then

1. div grad f = ( f)
2. curl grad f = ( f)
3. grad div F = ( F)
4. div curl F = ( F)
5. curl curl F = ( F)

29
Example 17
Final 2015/2016 Sem 1

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