fundamental theorem of line integrals 337

where the partial derivatives

are continuous on an open set S. Iffis the gradient of some potential function prove that

at each point of
5. For each of the following vector fields, use the result of Exercise 4 to prove that is not a
gradient. Then find a closed path C such that 0.
+xj + x k .
(b) z) = + + +
6. A force field is defined in by the equation

(a) Determine whether or not fis conservative.

(b) Calculate the work done in moving a particle along the curve described by

a(t) = cos ti + sin +

as t runs from 0 to
7. A two-dimensional force field F is described by the equation

F(x, = (x + + (x

(a) Show that the work done by this force in moving a particle along a curve

(b) Find the amount of work done = 1, f(b) = 2, g(a) = 3, g(b) = 4.

8. A force field is given in polar coordinates by the equation

= -4 sin i 4 sin

Compute the work done in moving a particle from the point to the origin along the spiral
whose polar equation is r =
9. A radial or “central” force field F in the plane can be written in the form y)
where r = xi + and r = . Show that such a force field is conservative.
10. Find the work done by force = + 2)i + 16xj. in moving a particle from 1,
to (1, 0) along the upper half of the ellipse + = Which ellipse (that is, which
value of b) makes the work a minimum?

10.14 The first fundamental theorem of calculus for line integrals

Section 10.11 extended the second fundamental theorem of calculus to line integrals.
This section extends the first fundamental theorem. We recall that the first fundamental
theorem states that every indefinite integral of a continuous function has a derivative
338 Line integrals

equal to f. That is, if

then at the points of continuity off we have

=f
To extend this theorem to line integrals we begin with a vector continuous on an
open connected set S, and integrate it along a piecewise smooth curve C from a fixed
point a in S to an arbitrary point x. Then we let denote the scalar field defined by the line
integral

where a describes C. Since S is connected, each point in S can be reached by such a

curve. For this definition of to be unambiguous, we need to know that the integral
depends only on and not on the particular path used to join a to x. Therefore, it is natural
to require the line integral off to be independent of the path in S. Under these conditions,
the extension of the first fundamental theorem takes the following form:

THEOREM 10.4. FI RST F UNDAM ENT AL T HE OR E M FOR L INE I NTEGRA LS . Let f be a vector
that is continuous on an open connected set in and assume that the line integral off
is independent of the path in S. Let a be of S and a on S by
the equation

where a is any piecewise smooth path in S joining a to x. Then the gradient of exists and is
equal to f; that is,
= f(x) for every in

Proof, We shall prove that the partial derivative exists and is equal to
the kth component of f(x), for each k = 2, . . . , and each in S.
Let r) be an n-ball with center at and radius r lying in S. If is a unit vector, the
point also lies in S for every real h satisfying 0 < < r, and we can form the
difference quotient
+

Because of the additive property of line integrals, the numerator of this quotient can be
written as

+ = da,

and the path joining to + can be any piecewise smooth path lying in S. In particular,
 Necessary and conditions for a to be a gradient 339

we can use the line segment described by

a(t) = + thy, where 0 t 1.

Since a’(t) = , the difference quotient becomes

(10.4) = +
h
Now we take y = the kth unit coordinate vector, and note that the integrand becomes
+ thy) . y = + the,). Then we make the change variable = ht , = h dt ,
and we write (10.4) in the form

+ 1
(10.5) + du ,
h
where g is the function defined on the open interval (-r, r) by the equation

Since each component is continuous on the first fundamental theorem for ordinary
integrals tells us that g’(t) exists for each in (-r, r) and that

+ .

In particular, g’(0) Therefore, if we let h 0 in (10.5) we find that

+
g’(0) =
h h0 h

This proves that the partial derivative exists and as asserted.

10.15 Necessary and sufficient conditions for a vector field to be a gradient

The first and second fundamental theorems for line integrals together tell us that a
necessary and sufficient condition for a continuous vector field to be a gradient on an open
connected set is for its line integral between any two points to be independent of the path.
We shall prove now that this condition is equivalent to the that the line integral
is zero around every piecewise smooth closed path. All these conditions are summarized in
the following theorem.

THEOREM N ECES SA RY A ND SUFFI CIENT CONDITI ONS FOR A V ECTOR FIE LD TO BE A

GRAD Let f be a
IE N T. continuous on an open connected set S in Then the
three statements are equivalent.
(a) is the gradient of somepotentialfinction in S.
(b) The line integral off is independent of the path in S.
(c) The line integral off is zero around every piecewise smooth closedpath in S.
 340 Line integrals

We shall prove that (b) implies (a), (a) implies (c), and (c) implies (b). State-
ment (b) implies (a) because of the first fundamental theorem. The second fundamental
theorem shows that (a) implies (c).
To complete the proof we show that (c) implies (b). Assume (c) holds and let and
be any two piecewise smooth curves in with the same end points. Let be the graph of a
function a defined on an interval [a, and let be the graph of a function defined on

Define a new function y as follows:

i f
=
+ i f

Then y describes a closed curve C such that

Since dy = because of (c), we have f da = f so the integral off is

independent of the path. This proves (b). Thus, (a), (b), and (c) are equivalent.

Note: If f 0 for a closed curve C, then f is not a gradient. However,

if a line integral f is zero for a particular closed curve C or even for infinitely many
closed curves, it does not necessarily follow that f is a gradient. For example, the reader
can easily verify that the line integral of the vector field f(x, = xi + is zero for every
circle C with center at the origin. Nevertheless, this particular vector field is not a
gradient.

10.16 Necessary conditions for a vector field to be a gradient

The first fundamental theorem can be used to determine whether or not a given vector
field is a gradient on an open connected set S. If the line integral off is independent of the
path in we simply define a scalar field by integrating f from some fixed point to an
arbitrary point in along a convenient path in S. Then we compute the partial derivatives
of and compare the kth component off. If = for every in
and every k, then f is a gradient on and is a potential. If for some k
and some x, then f is not a gradient on S.
The next theorem gives another test for determining when a vector field f is not a gradient.
This test is especially useful in practice because it does not require any integration.

THEOREM10.6. NECESSARY CONDITIONS FOR A VECTOR FIELD TO BE A GRADIENT. Let

., be a continuously vector field on an open set in R”. is a
gradient on then the partial derivatives of the components off are related by the equations

(10.6) =

for j= . . . , n and every in

 Necessary conditions for a vector field to be a gradient 341

Proof. a gradient, then for some potential function This means that

fo re a c h j = Differentiating both members of this equation with respect to

we find
= .
Similarly, we have
=

Since the partial derivatives and are continuous on S, the two mixed partial
derivatives and must be equal on S. This proves (10.6).

EXAMPLE Determine whether or not the vector field

= +

is a gradient on any open subset of

Solution. Here we have

= =

The partial derivatives and are given by

= y) =

except when x = 0 or y = this vector field is not a

gradient on any open subset of

The next example shows that the conditions of Theorem 10.6 are not always sufficient
for a vector field to be a gradient.

EXAMPLE 2. Let S be the set of all (x, y) in and let be the vector field
defined on S by the equation

Show that everywhere on S but that, nevertheless, f is not a gradient on S.

Solution. The reader can easily verify that y) = y) for all y) in S.

(See Exercise 17 in Section 10.18.)
To prove thatfis not a gradient on S we compute the line integral offaround the unit
circle given by