Lecture Notes

on
Vector calculus
B. Tech. Physics : 1st year

Dr. Moumita Indra (MI)

Meaning of Gradient:
The gradient is a vector operation that operates on a scalar function to produce a vector.

Its magnitude is the maximum rate of change of the function at the point of the gradient and which is
pointed in the direction of the maximum rate of change of the function.

In Cartesian coordinates, the gradient of function f(x,y,z) is:

    
f ( x, y, z ) = iˆ + ˆj + kˆ  f ( x, y, z )
 x y z 
  ˆ  ˆ 
Here   ˆ
i + j +k is known as the gradient operator or del operator.
x y z
If a surface is defined by the function f(x,y,z) then the gradient on the surface defines a vector that is
normal to the surface. 
f
Unit normal vector to a surface f(x,y,z) can be defined as, nˆ = 
f
 Example of gradient operator:

Intensity of electric field ( a vector quantity) is the gradient of potential (a scalar quantity) with negative
sign i.e.  
E = −V

Here, E is the electric field intensity and V is the electric potential.

The negative sign indicates that the direction of field intensity is opposite to the direction of increase of
potential.

Gradient tells you how much a variable changes as you move from one
point to another.
Divergence operator:
The divergence of a vector field at any point is defined as “ the amount of flux per unit volume
diverging from that point ”.

Let us choose a vector field denotes by A = Ax iˆ + Ay ˆj + Az kˆ

  
Then the divergence of A is expressed as, . A =  iˆ  + ˆj  + kˆ  .( Ax iˆ + Ay ˆj + Az kˆ)
 x y z 

A Ay Az
= x+ +
x y z
Physical Interpretation of the Divergence:
The divergence measures how much a vector field “spreads out” or diverges from a given point.

For example:
The figure on the left-most has positive divergence, since the vector fields are all spreading as they move away
from the point.
The figure in the center has negative divergence since the vectors are coming closer together instead of
spreading out.
The field on the right-most has zero divergence everywhere since the vectors are not spreading out at all. This is
easy to compute also, since the vector field is constant everywhere and the derivative of a constant is zero.
PHYSICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF DIVERGENCE:

❑ Divergence of vector quality indicates how much the vector quality spreads out from a certain
point.
❑ Imagine a fluid, with the vector field representing the velocity of the fluid at each point in
space. Divergence measures the net flow of fluid out of (i.e., diverging from) a given point. If
the fluid is instead flowing into that point, the divergence will be negative.
❑ A point or region with positive divergence is often referred to as a "source" (of fluid, or
whatever the field is describing), while a point or region with negative divergence is a "sink".
❑ If div V = 0, then the fluid entering and leaving is the same. i.e., the fluid is incompressible and
the vector is called a solenoidal vector.
Curl of a vector:
Curl - PHYSICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
• Curl of vector quality indicates that how much the vector quantity curls or twist around.

Example: Rotating water in a bucket has curl.

You can measure curl by putting a piece of dust in
the liquid and seeing if it spins around its own axis.

Curl of an electric field results the rate of change of magnetic field in perpendicular direction.
Curl of magnetic field results the flow of electricity.
 
Curl v = 2
    
where v is the linear velocity and  is the constant angular velocity of a body (v =   r )
Please try to solve the exercise problems of any
book from this chapter…

Thank you all