ECE a211

ELECTROMAGNETICS
GRADIENT, DIVERGENT
AND CURL

BY ENGR. JTM
 OBJECTIVES
At the end of the topic……
❑Determine the gradient, divergent and curl of
a given vector.
 THE DEL OPERATOR
• ∇
• Also called as “nabla”
• The del operator (∇) is an operator commonly used
in vector calculus to find derivatives in higher dimensions.
When applied to a function of one independent variable, it
yields the derivative
• For multidimensional scalar functions, it yields the gradient.
• If either dotted or crossed with a vector field, it
produces divergence or curl, respectively, which are the
vector equivalents of differentiation.
 THE GRADIENT
If U(r) = U(x; y; z) is a scalar field, ie a scalar
function of position r = [x; y; z] in 3 dimensions,
then its gradient at any point is defined in
Cartesian co-ordinates by
𝜕 𝜕 𝜕
• gradU = ∇U = (𝜕𝑥 ax+ 𝜕𝑦 ay + a
𝜕𝑧 z
) U(x,y,z)
𝜕 𝜕 𝜕
• ∇U = ( U ax+ Uay + Uaz )
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
 EXAMPLE
Find the gradient of U = x2
𝜕 𝜕 𝜕
∇U= (𝜕𝑥 U ax+ 𝜕𝑦 Uay + 𝜕𝑧
Uaz )
𝜕 2 𝜕 2 𝜕 2
∇U= (𝜕𝑥 x ax+ 𝜕𝑦 x ay + 𝜕𝑧
x az )
∇ U = 2x ax
 EXAMPLE
Find gradU; U = x2 + y2 + z2
𝜕 𝜕 𝜕
∇ U = (𝜕𝑥 U ax+ 𝜕𝑦 Uay + 𝜕𝑧 Uaz )
𝜕 𝜕 𝜕
∇U= (x2 + y2 + z2) ax+ (x2 + y2 + z2) ay + (x2 + y2 + z2) az
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
𝜕
𝜕𝑥
(x2 + y2 + z2) ax :
=2x ax
𝜕
(x2 + y2 + z2) ay :
𝜕𝑦 ∇ U = 2x ax + 2y ay + 2z az
=2y ay
𝜕
(x2 + y2 + z2) az :
𝜕𝑧
=2z az
 EXAMPLE
Determine ∇ (2xy + 3x2yz + 2xy2z2)
𝜕
(2xy + 3x2yz + 2xy2z2) ax :
𝜕𝑥
= (2y + 6xyz + 2y2z2) ax
𝜕
(2xy + 3x2yz + 2xy2z2) ay :
𝜕𝑦
(2x + 3x2z + 4xyz2) ay
𝜕
𝜕𝑧
(2xy + 3x2yz + 2xy2z2) az :
= (3x2y+ 4xy2z) az :

∇ (2xy + 3x2yz + 2xy2z2)

= (2y + 6xyz + 2y2z2) ax + (2x + 3x2z + 4xyz2) ay + (3x2y+ 4xy2z) az
 EXAMPLE
Determine ∇ (2xy + 3x2yz + 2xy2z2)
𝜕
𝜕𝑥
(2xy + 3x2yz + 2xy2z2) ax :
∇ (2xy + 3x2yz + 2xy2z2) = (2y + 6xyz + 2y2z2) ax + (2x
+ 3x2z + 4xyz2) ay + (3x2y+ 4xy2z) az

𝜕
= (2xy + 3x2yz + 2xy2z2) ay :
𝜕𝑦
(2x + 3x2z + 4xyz2) ay
𝜕
(2xy + 3x2yz + 2xy2z2) az :
𝜕𝑧
= (3x2y+ 4xy2z) az :
 THE DIVERGENCE
The divergence computes a scalar quantity from a vector field by
differentiation. If a(x; y; z) is a vector function of position in 3
dimensions, that is A = Ax ax + Ay ay + Az az its divergence at any
point is defined in Cartesian co-ordinates by
𝜕 𝜕 𝜕
div a = ∇. A =( Ax+ Ay + Az )
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
We can write this in a simplified notation using a scalar product
with the ∇ vector differential operator:

𝜕 𝜕 𝜕
∇ . U = (𝜕𝑥 ax+ 𝜕𝑦 ay + 𝜕𝑧 az ) . A
 EXAMPLE
Given 𝐅(𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) = 〈𝑥𝑦2, 𝑥2𝑦𝑧2, 2𝑥𝑧4〉, find div F

∇. F = ∇. (𝑥𝑦2 ax + 𝑥2𝑦𝑧2 ay + 2𝑥𝑧4 az)

∇. F = 𝑦2 + 𝑥2𝑧2 + 8𝑥𝑧3
 EXAMPLE
Given 𝐅(𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) = 〈2𝑦, 𝑥𝑧, 𝑥 + 2𝑦〉, find div F

∇. F = ∇. [2𝑦 ax + xz ay + (𝑥 + 2𝑦 ) az]
∇. F = 0 + 0 + 0
∇. F = 0
 CURL
the curl of a vector field
curl (A) = ∇ x A
A = Ax ax + Ay ay + Az az
𝑎𝑥 𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑧
𝜕 𝜕 𝜕
∇xA= 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
𝐴𝑥 𝐴𝑦 𝐴𝑧
𝜕 𝜕 𝜕 𝜕
∇xA = (𝜕𝑦 Az - 𝜕𝑧
Ay) ax + (𝜕𝑧 Ax - 𝜕𝑥
Az) ay +
𝜕 𝜕
(𝜕𝑥 Ay - Ax) az
𝜕𝑦
 EXAMPLE
Given 𝐅(𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) = 〈𝑥𝑦2, 𝑥2𝑦𝑧2, 2𝑥𝑧4〉, find curl (F)

∇ x F = ∇x (𝑥𝑦2 ax + 𝑥2𝑦𝑧2 ay + 2𝑥𝑧4 az)

𝑎𝑥 𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑧 𝑎𝑥 𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑧
𝜕 𝜕 𝜕 𝜕 𝜕 𝜕
∇xF= 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧 = 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
𝐹𝑥 𝐹𝑦 𝐹𝑧 𝑥𝑦2 𝑥2𝑦𝑧2 2𝑥𝑧4

𝜕 𝜕 𝜕 𝜕 𝜕 𝜕
∇xF = (𝜕𝑦 Fz - 𝜕𝑧 Fy) ax + (𝜕𝑧 Fx - 𝜕𝑥 Fz) ay + (𝜕𝑥 Fy - 𝜕𝑦 Fx) az
𝜕 𝜕 𝜕 𝜕 𝜕 𝜕
∇xF = (𝜕𝑦 2𝑥𝑧4 - 𝜕𝑧 𝑥2𝑦𝑧2 ) ax + (𝜕𝑧 𝑥𝑦2 - 𝜕𝑥 2𝑥𝑧4 ) ay + (𝜕𝑥 𝑥2𝑦𝑧2 - 𝜕𝑦 𝑥𝑦2) az
∇xF = -2x2yz ax - 2z4 ay + (2xyz2 -2xy) az