Lecture 5

Vector Operators: Grad, Div and Curl

In the first lecture of the second part of this course we move more to consider properties of fields. We
introduce three field operators which reveal interesting collective field properties, viz.

the gradient of a scalar field,

the divergence of a vector field, and
the curl of a vector field.

There are two points to get over about each:

The mechanics of taking the grad, div or curl, for which you will need to brush up your multivariate
calculus.
The underlying physical meaning — that is, why they are worth bothering about.

In Lecture 6 we will look at combining these vector operators.

5.1 The gradient of a scalar field

Recall the discussion of temperature distribution throughout a room in the overview, where we wondered
how a scalar would vary as we moved off in an arbitrary direction. Here we find out how to.
If

 

is a scalar field, ie a scalar function of position    
 in 3 dimensions, then its
gradient at any point is defined in Cartesian co-ordinates by



" #
    !   $
 
   
It is usual to define the vector operator
%            "    
which is called “del” or “nabla”. Then
 
'&(%)

51
52 LECTURE 5. VECTOR OPERATORS: GRAD, DIV AND CURL

Note immediately that

%)
is a vector field!
Without thinking too carefully about it, we can see that the gradient tends to point in the direction of
greatest change of the scalar field. Later we will be more precise.

Worked examples of gradient evaluation

1.

 

Only
   exists so
%)
    #

2.





 

 


, so
%)
            " 
#   

3.

  , where  is constant.
%)
             "        
        

  "   #

4.

  

   
      


   ! ,  
Now  
 "! 
 $ ! , and  '
# %! #
   ! , so
& "! &
%)
            "  )(   

    -" ,
     

+*
(
 .
But  /

 
 
   
, so  and similarly for
  . Hence

%
 (                  "  , 
) (

       " 
 (
  #
0* 21  3 54 6
( ( (
5.2. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF GRAD 53

grad












Figure 5.1: The directional derivative

5.2 The significance of grad

We have seen that
%)
  
    
    
 " 

so if we move a small amount (  (     (    (  "  the change in

is (see figure 5.1)

  
    
    
   ) %
 #
( ( ( ( (
Now divide by 
(

 #
(   %

( 
( (
But remember that    , so    is a unit vector in the direction of  .
( ( ( ( (
So

 


has the property that the rate of change of wrt distance in a particular direction (  ) is the

projection of   

onto that direction (or the component of    
in that direction).
The quantity


 is called a directional derivative. Note that in general it has a different value for
( (
each direction, and so has no meaning until you specify the direction.
We could also say that


At any point P,    points in the direction of greatest change of




to the rate of change of wrt distance in that direction.
at P, and has magnitude equal

Another nice property emerges if we think of a surface of constant

– that is the locus
  
 for

 
   
54 LECTURE 5. VECTOR OPERATORS: GRAD, DIV AND CURL

0.1

0.08

0.06

0.04

0.02

0
4

2 4
2
0
0
−2
−2
−4 −4

Figure 5.2:

so


If we move


  a tiny amount within
  the surface, that is in any tangential direction, there is no change in
 . So for any  in the surface
,
( ( ( (
%)
 
( 
#
(
This can only be satisfied if

   
is NORMAL to a surface of constant

.

gradU

Surface of constant U Surface of constant U

These are called Level Surfaces
Figure 5.3:

5.3 The divergence of a vector field

The divergence computes a scalar quantity from a vector field by differentiation.
5.4. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF 
 55

More precisely, if 
 

is a vector function of position in 3 dimensions, that is   
   
    "  ,
then its divergence at any point is defined in Cartesian co-ordinates by
    
 
        
   

We can write this in a simplified notation using a scalar product with the
% vector differential operator:
   
 
          "       %  
Notice that the divergence of a vector field is a scalar field.

Worked examples of divergence evaluation

   div

           "  
   
!
  where  is constant

 
 
   

Let us show the third example.

The
 component of  

is
 # 
  , and we need to find
    of it.
  # 


 
# 


 
   


 
#     
  

           


Adding this to similar terms for and gives

       
 
 
 
        

5.4 The significance of  


Consider a typical vector field, water flow, and denote it by   . This vector has magnitude equal to the
mass of water crossing a unit area perpendicular to the direction of  per unit time.
Now take an infinitesimal volume element
(!
and figure out the balance of the flow of  in and out of
("!
.
  
 ( ( in Cartesian co-ordinates, and think first
  perpendicular to the
To be specific, consider the volume element
("!  axis( and
about the face of area
( (      .)
facing outwards in the negative direction.
($#
(That is, the one with surface area
( (
The component of the vector  normal to this face is   % #
, and is pointing inwards, and so the its
contribution to the OUTWARD flux from this surface is

 ( #    #  (  (  #
(Flux here means mass per unit time.)
56 LECTURE 5. VECTOR OPERATORS: GRAD, DIV AND CURL

dz
dS = -dxdz j dS = +dxdz j

y
dx

dy
x
Figure 5.4: Elemental volume for calculating divergence.

 
A similar contribution, but of opposite sign, will arise from the opposite face, but we must remember
that we have moved along by an amount , so that this OUTWARD amount is
(
  
 #   (
   
( (

 #  # ( 
( (
 

The total outward amount from these two faces is

    
  # ( ( (    # (!
Summing the other faces gives a total outward flux of
   
      #    &  (!  %  ( !

Take home message: The divergence of a vector field represents the flux generation per unit volume at
each point of the field. (Divergence because it is an efflux not an influx.)
Interestingly we also saw that the total efflux from the infinitesimal volume was equal to the flux inte-
grated over the surface of the volume.
(NB: The above does not constitute a rigorous proof of the assertion because we have not proved that the
quantity calculated is independent of the co-ordinate system used, but it will suffice for our purposes.


5.5 The Laplacian:    
of a scalar field
Recall that   




, even if we don’t know what it means yet.
of any vector field. So we can certainly compute  
   
of any scalar field is a vector field. Recall also that we can compute the divergence
5.5. THE LAPLACIAN: 



OF A SCALAR FIELD 57

Here is where the

% operator starts to be really handy.
        
%
%
         "           "  

  


       "    
  
        " 

 

 




 
 
 

 






 
 
 


This last expression occurs frequently in engineering science (you will meet it next in solving Laplace’s


Equation in partial differential equations). For this reason, the operator  is called the “Laplacian”

   









 



Laplace’s equation itself is






Examples of  
evaluation

 


  

  ! "#$!%&  
')(  *


Let’s prove the last example (which is particularly significant – can you guess why?).

   
 
 


and so
  


 
 
         #  
 
  


  
 
 

  #  #  
 
 
 

        
 

Adding up similar terms for

 and

    
 
 






  

 
58 LECTURE 5. VECTOR OPERATORS: GRAD, DIV AND CURL

5.6 The curl of a vector field

So far we have seen the operator
%
Applied to a scalar field
%
; and
Dotted with a vector field
%  .
You are now overwhelmed by that irrestible temptation to

cross it with a vector field

% 

%
 &    
This gives the curl of a vector field

 
We can follow the pseudo-determinant recipe for vector products, so that

 "
%
     
  
  #  &
 
  &      #        "
# &  
     &     #     

% 
Examples of curl evaluation

 
  
"   
  "   

     

5.7 The signficance of curl

Perhaps the first example gives a clue. The field        is sketched in Figure  
field you would calculate as the velocity field of an object rotating with  
"
   .) 5.5(a). (It is the
This field has a
curl of   , which is in the r-h screw out of the page. You can also see that a field like this must give a

finite value to the line integral around the complete loop  # 
(
In fact curl is closely related to the line integral around a loop. The circulation of a vector  round any

closed curve is defined to be 


(

and the curl of the vector field  represents the vorticity, or circulation per unit area, of the field.
Our proof uses the small rectangular element
 by
 shown in Figure 5.5(b). Consider the circulation
round the perimeter of a rectangular element.
( (
5.8. SOME DEFINITIONS INVOLVING DIV, CURL AND GRAD 59

y
y ax (y+dy)
y+dy

ay (x+dx)
dy
x

ay (x)
dx
y x+dx
x

ax (y)

Figure 5.5: (a) A rough sketch of the vector field       . (b) An element in which to calculate curl.
The fields in the
 direction at the bottom and top are
 
     
  
(
         (
and the fields in the
 direction at the left and right are
 
 #   #   
(
  #
     # (

field:
(

Starting at the bottom and working round in the anticlockwise sense, the four contributions to the circu-
lation are therefore as follows, where the minus signs take account of the path being oppose to the

                                
(


   
(
    #    (   (   #     ,  (   (   #      (    ,       

 
(
  *  # ( ( *  ( ( # (
   #    
 
% 
( (
($#
   " .
($#
where
( (
NB: Again, this is not a completely rigorous proof as we have not shown that the result is independent
of the co-ordinate system used.

5.8 Some definitions involving div, curl and grad

A vector field with zero divergence is said to be solenoidal.

A vector field with zero curl is said to be irrotational.

A scalar field with zero gradient is said to be, er, well, constant.

IDR October 21, 2003