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MSG322 Note 1
MSG322 Note 1
MSG322 Note 1
NOTE 1
REVIEW OF BASIC CONCEPTS FROM VECTOR DIFFERENTIATION AND
VECTOR INTEGRATION
Scalar
a quantity such as mass, length, time or temperature that is completely specified by its
magnitude and has no direction.
Vectors
an abstraction of physical concepts like displacement and force, which have magnitude and
direction, and are additive.
Vector field
a function of spatial position whose values are vectors.
Cartesian coordinates
in 3D, we commonly use right-handed Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z).
we write i, j, k for unit vectors along x, y, z directions respectively, as shown in the following
figure.
Dot product
this is defined through
i i = j j = k k = 1
i j = 0, etc.
Cross product
this is defined through
i j = j i = k,
j k = k j = i,
k i = i k = j
Del operator
the vector differential operator (del, also called nabla) is defined by
= i
+ j
+ k
x
y
z
Gradient
let (x, y, z) be a scalar point function defined at each point (x, y, z) in a certain region.
Then the gradient of is written as or grad and is defined by
+j
+k
+j
+k
= i
= i
x
y
z
x
y
z
is normal to the surface .
Directional derivative
the component of in the direction of a unit vector ~a is given by ~a and is called the
directional derivative of in the direction of ~a.
physically, this is the rate of change of at (x, y, z) in the direction of ~a.
Divergence
~ = V1i + V2 j + V3 k be a vector point function of x, y, z. Then, the divergence of V
~,
let V
~ or V
~ is defined by
written as divV
i
V =
+j
+k
V1i + V2 j + V3 k
x
y
z
=
V1
V2
V3
+
+
x
y
z
Curl
~ = V1i + V2 j + V3 k be a vector point function of x, y, z. Then, the curl of V
~ or rotation
let V
~ , written as curlV
~ or V
~ is defined by
of V
i
j
k
~
V =
x y z
V1 V2 V3
V3
V2
V1
V3
V2
V1
+ j
+ k
= i
y
z
z
x
x
y
Examples
1. If (x, y, z) = 3x2 y y 3 z 2 , find at (1,-2,-1).
find A
~ = x2 zi 2y 3 z 2 j + xy 2 z k,
~ at the point (1,-1,1).
4. If A
find A
~ at the point (1,-1,1).
~ = xz 3i 2x2 yzj + 2yz 4 k,
5. If A
Line Integral
where ~r(u) is the position vector of (x, y, z).
let ~r(u) = x(u)i + y(u)j + z(u)k,
define a curve C joining the points P1 and P2 .
~ y, z) = A1i + A2 j + A3 k be a vector function defined and continuous along C.
let A(x,
~ along C from P1 to P2 written as
then the integral of the tangential component of A
Z
P2
~ d~r =
A
P1
~ d~r =
A
Z
A1 dx + A2 dy + A3 dz
C
P2
~ d~r
A
P1
P(x,y,z)
S
Surface Integral
let S be a two-sided surface and one side of this is taken as the positive side.
a unit normal n
to any point of the positive side of S is called a positive or outward drawn
unit normal.
~ be a vector point function.
let A
~n
~
A
is the normal component of vector A.
~ over the surfaces is called the surface
the double integral of the normal component of A
~ over S or flux of A
~ over S.
integral of A
Z Z
Z Z
~ dS
~=
~n
A
A
dS
S
~ over S.
is the surface integral of A
7
Volume Integral
consider a closed surface in space enclosing a volume V .
then
Z Z Z
~
AdV
Example
~ = 4xzi y 2 j + yz k taken over the
1. Verify Gauss Divergence theorem for the vector field A
region bounded by the cube x = 0, y = 0, z = 0, x = 1, y = 1, z = 1.
Stokess Theorem
~ has
if S is an open, two-sided surface bounded by a closed, non-intersecting curve C and A
continuous derivatives, then
I
Z Z
~
~n
A d~r =
A
dS
C
10
dx dy
x
y
R
C
11