Lecture 1: Review of Vector

Calculus – Part I
• Basic Vector Algebra
– Vector Addition and Subtraction
– Position and Distance Vectors
– Vector Multiplications
– Scalar and Vector Triple Products
• Orthogonal Coordinate Systems
– Cartesian Coordinates
– Cylindrical Coordinate
– Spherical Coordinates
• Coordinate System Transformations
– Cartesian to Cylindrical Transformations
– Cartesian to Spherical Transformations
– Cylindrical to Spherical Transformations
Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 2 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics
Basic Vector Algebra
• Vectors: Magnitude and Direction
A A
A aˆ | A | aˆ A where aˆ .
|A| A
A xˆ Ax  yˆ Ay  zˆ Az so that
A |A| Ax2  Ay2  Az2 ;
A xˆ Ax  yˆ Ay  zˆ Az
aˆ .
A 2
A A A
x
2
y
2
z

• Equality: If A = B, it means that

A = B and also a ˆ bˆ
Equality of two vectors does not necessarily
imply that they are identical.
Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 3 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics
Basic Vector Algebra
• Vector Addition and Subtraction

A pair of vectors A and B shown in (a) are added by the head-to-tail method (b) and
by completing the trapezoid (c). In (d), the vector B is subtracted from A.

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 4 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Basic Vector Algebra
• Position and Distance Vectors

Position vectors are R2 and R1 which have to be determined by 3-D

positions, while distance vector is R12 = R2 - R1 which can shift.

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 5 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Basic Vector Algebra
• Vector Multiplications
– Scalar or Dot Product
A ˜ B AB cos T AB
A˜B Ax Bx  Ay B y  Az Bz
A˜B B˜A
A ˜ A | A |2 A 2
A ˜ (B  C) A ˜ B  A ˜ C

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 6 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Basic Vector Algebra
• Vector Multiplications
– Vector Product

A u B n̂AB sin T AB

xˆ yˆ zˆ
Au B B u A Ax Ay Az
Bx By Bz
Au A 0
A u (B  C ) Au B  Au C

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 7 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Basic Vector Algebra
• Scalar and Vector Triple Products

A ˜ BuC B ˜ Cu A C˜ AuB
Ax Ay Az
A˜ BuC Bx By Bz
Cx Cy Cz
Au BuC B A ˜C  C A ˜B
Au BuC z AuB uC

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 8 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Orthogonal Coordinate Systems
• Cartesian Coordinates

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 9 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Orthogonal Coordinate Systems
• Cylindrical Coordinate

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 10 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Orthogonal Coordinate Systems
• Spherical Coordinates

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 11 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Orthogonal Coordinate Systems
• Summary of Coordinate Systems

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 12 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Coordinate System
Transformations
• Summary of Coordinate Transformations

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 13 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Summary
• Why do we use more than 1 coordinate system?
• Why is it that the base vectors (xˆ , yˆ , zˆ ) are
independent of the location of a point, but rˆ and ijˆ
are not?
• What are the cyclic relations for the base vectors in
(a) Cartesian coordinates, (b) cylindrical coordinates,
and (c) spherical coordinates?
• How is the position vector of a point in cylindrical
coordinates related to its position vector in spherical
coordinates?

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 14 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Lecture 1: Review of Vector
Calculus – Part -II
• Gradient of a Scalar Field
– Gradient Operator in Cylindrical & Spherical
Systems
– Properties of a Gradient Operator
• Divergence of a Vector Field
– Divergence Theorem
• Curl of a Vector Field
– Vector Identities Involving the Curl
– Stokes’s Theorem
• Laplacian Operator
Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 15 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics
 Vector Line Integrals

³ F ˜ dl ³ F
A A
A ˜ dl  ³ FB ˜ dl  ³ FC ˜ dl
B C

FA ˜ A  FB ˜ B  FC ˜ C
F vector field FA  FB  FC
y
A vector line ABC
FC
C
x
B
A FB
FA

15a
Example
FA 4xˆ A 3xˆ
FB 2yˆ B 4yˆ
FC 7 zˆ C zˆ

³ F ˜ dl ³ F
A A
A ˜ dl  ³ FB ˜ dl  ³ FC ˜ dl
B C

FA ˜ A  FB ˜ B  FC ˜ C
12  8  7
27

15b
The previous example is a very simple one. In
general, F and Ɛ will not be constant but changing
with position (x, y, z). This will require us to do the
real integration for each segment. More exercises
will be given in the tutorial questions.

15c
 Vector Surface Integrals
Definition of a vector area:

S = vector area Direction of this unit

= S â â normal vector = â

Surface area = S

15d
 ³ F ˜ ds ³ F
S SA
A ˜ ds  ³ FB ˜ ds  ³ FC ˜ ds
SB SC

FA ˜ S A  FB ˜ S B  FC ˜ SC
S AFA ˜ aˆ  S B FB ˜ bˆ  SC FC ˜ cˆ
S vector area z
S A  S B  SC ĉ
S Aaˆ  S B bˆ  SC cˆ FC SC
y
SB b̂
SA F
FA
B
x â

15e
 Example
SA 4xˆ m 2
FA 2xˆ
FB 3yˆ SB 2yˆ m 2

FC zˆ Sc 5zˆ m 2

³ F ˜ ds ³ F
S SA
A ˜ ds  ³ FB ˜ ds  ³ FC ˜ ds
SB SC z
ẑ
2xˆ ˜ 4xˆ  3yˆ ˜ 2yˆ  1zˆ ˜ 5zˆ
8  6  5 19 FC S C
y
SB ŷ
SA F
F A
B
x x̂
15f
The previous example is a very simple one. In
general, F and S will not be constant but changing
with position (x, y, z). This will require us to do the
real integration for each surface area. More exercises
will be given in the tutorial questions.

15g
Gradient of a Scalar Field
• Basic Concept of the Gradient
– Let us assume a temperature T as a function of space
parameters
– Gradient is an extension of the
derivative dT/dz
– However, if the T is a function
of 3-D position (x, y, z), then
we need to use Gradient to
describe the increase if the
temperature T as a function
of (x, y, z)

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 16 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Gradient of a Scalar Field
• Basic Concept of the Gradient
– Del or gradient operator

dl xˆ dx  yˆ dy  zˆ dz
wT wT wT
dT dx  dy  dz
wx wy wz
wT wT wT § wT wT wT ·
xˆ ˜ dl  yˆ ˜ dl  zˆ ˜ dl ¨¨ xˆ  yˆ  zˆ ¸¸ ˜ dl
wx wy wz © wx wy wz ¹
’T ˜ dl
wT wT wT w w w
’T xˆ  yˆ  zˆ or ’ xˆ  yˆ  zˆ
wx wy wz wx wy wz
dT ’T ˜ dl ’T ˜ aˆ dl or dT ’T ˜ aˆ l directional derivative
l dl

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 17 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Gradient of a Scalar Field
• Example

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 18 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Gradient of a Scalar Field
• Gradient Operator in Cylindrical & Spherical
Systems
– Cylindrical System
w 1 w w
’ r ij
ˆ ˆ  zˆ
wr r wI wz
– Spherical System
ˆ w ˆ1 w 1 w
’ R ș  ijˆ
wR R wT R sin T wI

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 19 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Gradient of a Scalar Field
• Example

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 20 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Gradient of a Scalar Field
• Properties of a Gradient Operator
– Addition
’ U  V ’U  ’ V
– Product
’ UV U’V  V’U
– High Order
’ V n nV n 1’V

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 21 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Divergence of a Vector Field
• Basic Concept of the Divergence
Total flux ³³ E ˜ ds
S

F1  F2  F3  F4  F5  F6
F1 ³³ E ˜ ds ³³ E ˜ nˆ ds
Face 1 Face 1
1

³³ xˆ E x  yˆ E y  zˆ E z ˜  xˆ 1 dydz ³³ E ˜ ds wE x wE y wE z
Face 1
’˜E lim S
 
 E x ,1'y'z 'v o0 'v wx wy wz
§ wE x · wE x
F2 E x , 2 'y'z E
¨ x ,1  'x ¸ 'y'z so F2  F1 'x'y'z
© wx ¹ wx
§ wE x wE y wE z ·
Total flux ³³S E ˜ ds ¨¨© wx  wy  wz ¸¸¹'x'y'z ’ ˜ E 'v
Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 22 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics
Divergence of a Vector Field
• Example 1

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 23 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Divergence of a Vector Field
• Divergence operator in Cylindrical and Spherical
Coordinate Systems
– Cylindrical Coordinate System
1 w 1 wAI wAz
’˜ A rAr  
r wr r wI wz

– Spherical Coordinate System

1 w 2 1 w 1 wAI
’˜ A 2
R AR  AT sin T 
R wR R sin T wT R sin T wI

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 24 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Divergence of a Vector Field
• Example 2

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 25 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Divergence of a Vector Field
• Divergence Theorem

³³³ ’ ˜ Edv ³³ E ˜ ds
V S

• Solenoidal, if ’·E = 0
• Distributive, because of ’·(E1+E2) = ’·E1+’· E2
• For a constant E, the entering and leaving fluxes are
the same and the divergence is zero, the field is thus
divergenceless.

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 26 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Divergence of a Vector Field
• Example 3a

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 27 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Divergence of a Vector Field
• Example 3b

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 28 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Curl of a Vector Field
• Basic Concept of the Curl
Circulation ³ B ˜ dl
C
– Circulation of a uniform field is zero, for
instance, in the case of (a)
– For case (b), we have
P0 I
B ijˆ
2Sr
– So we have
§ ˆ P0 I · ˆ
Circulation ³ B ˜ dl
C
³C ¨© ij 2Sr ¸¹ ˜ ijrdI P0 I

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 29 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Curl of a Vector Field
• Basic Concept of the Curl
1 ª º
’uB curl B lim «nˆ ³ B ˜ dl »
's o0 's
¬ C ¼ max

B xˆ Bx  yˆ B y  zˆ Bz
xˆ yˆ zˆ
’uB w w w
wx wy wz
Bx By Bz
§ wB · § wB ·
ˆx¨ wBz  y ¸  yˆ §¨ wBx  wBz ·¸  zˆ ¨ y  wBx ¸
© wy wz ¹ © wz wx ¹ © wx wy ¹

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 30 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Curl of a Vector Field
• Vector Identities Involving the Curl
– Distributive property of two vector fields
’u A  B ’u A  ’uB

– Divergence of a curl of a vector field

’˜ ’u A { 0

– Curl of a gradient of a scalar field

’ u ’V { 0

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 31 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Curl of a Vector Field
• Curl operator in Cylindrical and Spherical
Coordinate Systems
– Cylindrical Coordinate System rˆ ijˆ r zˆ
1 w w w
’u A
r wr wI wz
Ar rAI Az

– Spherical Coordinate System rˆ șˆ R ijˆ R sin T

1 w w w
’u A
R 2 sin T wR wT wI
AR RAT R sin T AI

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 32 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Curl of a Vector Field
• Example 1

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 33 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Curl of a Vector Field
• Example 2

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 34 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Curl of a Vector Field
• Stokes’s Theorem

– The Stokes’s Theorem converts the integral of the curl of a

vector over an open surface S into a line integral of the
vector along the contour C bounding the surface S.

³³ ’ u B ˜ ds ³ B ˜ dl
S C

– If ’uB = 0, then the field is said to be conservative or

irrotational.

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 35 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Laplacian Operator
• Laplacian Operator in Cartesian Coordinates
2 2 2
2 w V w V w V
’ V ’ ˜ ’V 2
 2  2
wx wy wz
2 2 2
§w w w ·
’ E ¨¨ 2  2  2 ¸¸E xˆ ’ 2 E x  yˆ ’ 2 E y  zˆ ’ 2 E z
2

© wx wy wz ¹
• Laplacian Operator in Cylindrical Coordinates
1 w § wV · 1 w 2V w 2V
’ 2V ¨r ¸ 2 2
 2
r wr © wr ¹ r wI wz
• Laplacian Operator in Spherical Coordinates
1 w § 2 wV · 1 w § wV · 1 w 2V
’ 2V 2 ¨R ¸ 2 ¨ sin T ¸ 2 2
R wR © wR ¹ R sin T wT © wT ¹ R sin T wI 2

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 36 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics

Summary
• What do the magnitude and direction of the
gradient of a scalar quantity represent?
• What is the physical meaning of the
divergence of a vector field?
• What is the meaning of the transformation
provided by the divergence theorem?
• What is the meaning of the transformation
provided by Stoke’s theorem?
• When is a vector field “conservative”?

Prof Joshua Le-Wei Li, EM Research Group 37 EE2011: Engineering Electromagnetics