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4.8 - Green's Theorem in The Plane
4.8 - Green's Theorem in The Plane
Divergence
Suppose that \(F(x, y) = M(x, y) \hat{\textbf{i}} + N(x, y) \hat{\text{j}}\), is the velocity field of a fluid flowing in the plane
and that the first partial derivatives of \(M\) and \(N\) are continuous at each point of a region \(R\).
Let \((x, y)\) be a point in \(R\) and let \(A\) be a small rectangle with one corner at \((x, y)\) that, along with its interior, lies
entirely in \(R\). The sides of the rectangle, parallel to the coordinate axes, have lengths of \( \Delta x \) and \( \Delta y \).
Assume that the components \(M\) and \(N\) do not change sign troughout a small region containing the rectangle \(A\). The
rate at which fluid leaves the rectangle across the bottom edge is approximately
\[F(x,y)=M(x,y) \hat{\textbf{i}}+N(x,y) \hat{\textbf{j}}\]
This is the scalar component of the velocity at \((x,y)\) in the direction of the outward normal times the length of the segment.
If the velocity is in meters per second, for example, the flow rate will be in meters per second times meters or square meters per
second. The rates at which the fluid crosses the other three sides in the directions of their outward normals can be estimated in
a similar way. The flow rates may be positive or negative depending on the signs of the components of \(F\). We approximate
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the net flow rate across the rectangular boundary of \(A\) by summing the flow rates across the four edges as defined by the
following dot products.
Top: \[F(x,y+\Delta y)\cdot (\hat{\textbf{j}})\Delta x=-N(x,y+\Delta y)\Delta x\]
Bottom: \[F(x,y)\cdot (-\hat{\textbf{j}})\Delta x=-N(x,y)\Delta x\]
Right: \[F(x+\Delta x,y)\cdot (\hat{\textbf{i}})\Delta y=M(x+\Delta x,y)\Delta y\]
Left: \[F(x,y)\cdot (-\hat{\textbf{i}})\Delta y=-M(x,y)\Delta y\]
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Adding these last two equations gives the net circulation relative to the counterclockwise orientation, and dividing by JlxJly
gives an estimate of the circulation density for the rectangle:
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