(I) The gradient vector

For a given scalar function f(x,y,z) the gradient vector of f is defined as

Where ∇ is called the del operator or the nabla operator. ∇ is a vector

differential operator defined as:

Note: The gradient vector of f usually written as:

f f f
f  i j  k  f x i  f y j  f z k   f x , f y , f z The components
x y z
f f f
, , and are the rates of changes of the function f in the x, y, and z
x y z
directions, respectively, per unit change in the distance.

conservative vector field

A vector field is conservative if it is also a gradient vector field for some
function.
For instance the vector field F  yi  x j is a conservative vector field
with a potential function of f (x,y)= xy because  f  y i  x j .
On the other hand, F   x i  y j is not a conservative vector field since
there is no function f such that F   f .

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(II) The Divergence

Let’s now talk about the second new concept in this section. Given the
vector field F  Pi  Q j  R k the divergence is defined to be,

There is also a definition of the divergence in terms of the ∇ operator. The

divergence can be defined in terms of the following dot product.

Definition
Let
F  x, y , z   P  x, y , z  i  Q  x , y , z  j  R  x , y , z  k
be a vector function defined and differentiable at each
point (x, y, z) in a certain region of space. Then, the
divergence of F , written as   F is defined as:
    
   F  divF  i
 x y j  k    Pi  Q j  Rk 
  z 

 P Q R
  
 x y z
Example 1:
If A  x z i  2 y z j  xy z k . Find   A (divA) at the point (1,-1,1).
2 2 2 2

Solution:

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  2
 A x z     2 y 2 z 2    xy 2 z   2 xz  4 yz 2  xy 2
x y z
 2  4 1  7
Example 2 Compute div F for F  x 2 yi  xyz j  x 2 y 2 k
Solution

Example 3:
If ϕ(x, y, z) = 2x3 y2z4
a) Find ∇ .(∇ϕ) (or div grad ϕ)
b) Show that ∇ .(∇ϕ)= ∇2ϕ
2 2 2
Where   2  2  2
2
x y z
Solution:
  
a)   i j k
x y z
    
 6 x 2 y 2 z 4 i  4 x 3 yz 4 j  8 x 3 y 2 z 3 k 
b)
    

x

6x2 y 2 z 4 

 
y
4 x 3 yz 4 

 
z
8x3 y 2 z 3 

 12 xy 2 z 4   4 x z   24 x y z 
3 4 3 2 2

        
     i  j  k i  j k
 x y z   x y z 

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               2 2 2 
           2  2  2 
x  x  y  y  z  z   x y z 
 2
Example 4: Prove that:
a) Find ∇ .(A+B)=∇ .A+∇ .B
b) ∇ .(ϕA)=(∇ ϕ).A+ϕ(∇ .A)
Solution:
a) Let A = A1i +A2 j +A3k , B = B1i +B2 j +B3k
   
  A  B   i  j  k
Then  x y z 
 A1  B1 i   A2  B2  j   A3  B3 k 

  A1  B1     A2  B2     A3  B3 
x y z
 A A A   B B B 
  1  2  3  1  2  3    A B
 x y z   x y z 
   
b)    A   i  j  k   A1 i  A2  j  A3 k 
 x y z 
  
 A1   A2   A3 
x y z
           
   A1  A1      A2  A2      A3  A3  
 x x   y y   z z 

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         
   A1  A2  A3    A1   A2   A3  
 x y z   x y z 
    A  A   

(III) The Curl

Given the vector field F  P i  Q j  Rk .

Using the ∇ we can define the curl as the following cross product,

So, the curl of a vector field F may be written as.

We have a couple of nice facts that use the curl of a vector field.
Facts

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Example 1:
Show that   r 2 r   0 where r  xi  y j  z k
Solution:
r  xi  y j  y k r  x  y  z  r r  r xi  r y j  r y k
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

2r r  2 x, 2r r  2 y, 2r r  2 z
x y z
i j k
 
  r2r 
 
x y z


r2x r2 y r2 y

   
  
   
      
 
  r 2 z  r 2 y i   r 2 x  r 2 z  j   r 2 y  r 2 x k
 y z   z x   x y 

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  r r  r r  r r 
  2rz  2ry i   2rx  2rz  j   2ry  2rx k
 y z   z x   x y 
 
  r 2 r  2 yz  2 yz i  2 xz  2 xz  j  2 xy  2 yx k  0

Example 2 Determine if F  x 2 y i  xyz j  x 2 y 2 k is a conservative

vector field.
Solution
So all that we need to do is compute the curl and see if we get the zero
vector or not.

So, the curl isn’t the zero vector and so this vector field is not conservative.
Next we should talk about a physical interpretation of the curl. Suppose
that F is the velocity field of a flowing fluid. Then curl F represents the
tendency of particles at the point (x,y,z) to rotate about the axis that points
in the direction of curl F . If curl F = 0 then the fluid is called irrotational.

Example 3:
Prove that: a) curl grad ∅ = 0
b) Div curl A = 0

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c) Verify if ∅=2xy3 z2 & A  5 xyi  8 yz 2 k
Solution:

i j k
  
a) Curl grad       
x y z
  
x y z
  2  2    2  2    2  2 
   i     j    k  0
 yz z y   z x  x  z   xy y x 
i j k
  
b) ∵ Curl A    A 
x y z
A1 A2 A3
 A A   A A   A A 
  2  3 i   1  3  j   2  1 k
 y z   z x   x y 
∴ Div curl A =     A
  A A    A A    A A 
  2  3    1  3    2  1 
x  y z  y  z x  z  x y 
 2 A3  2 A2  2 A1  2 A3  2 A2  2 A1
      0
xy xz yz yx zx zy
c) ∵ ∅=2xy3 z2
  
  2 y3 z 2 ,  6 xy 2 z 2 ,  4 xy 3 z
x y z

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 i j k
  
 Curl grad       
x y z
3 2 2 2
2 y z 6 xy z 4 xy 3 z
     
 12 xy 2 z  12 xy 2 z i  4 y 3 z  4 y 3 z j  6 y 2 z 2  6 y 2 z 2 k  0 &∵
A  5 xyi  8 yz 2 k  A1  5 xy, A2  0, A3  8 yz 2
i k j i j k
    
 Curl A    A  
x zy x y z
A1 A3 5 xy 0 8 yz 2
A2
 
 8 z 2  0 i  5xy  0 j  0  5 xz k
∴ Div curl A =     A


x
 
 
8 z 2  0  5 xy  0  0  5 xz   5 x  5 x  0
y z
Example 4 Verify that div  curl F   0 for the vector field
F  yz 2 i  xy j  yz k .
Solution
Let’s first compute the curl.

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Now compute the divergence of this.

We also have a physical interpretation of the divergence. If we again think

of F as the velocity field of a flowing fluid then div F represents the net
rate of change of the mass of the fluid flowing from the point (x,y,z ) per
unit volume. This can also be thought of as the tendency of a fluid to
diverge from a point. If div F then the F is called incompressible.
The next topic that we want to briefly mention is the Laplace operator.
Let’s first take a look at,

The Laplace operator is then defined as,

The Laplace operator arises naturally in many fields including heat transfer
and fluid flow.

Exercises

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20- (a) Show that the function f  1/r satisfies  f  0 ,
2

(b) If   zx 2  xy 2  yz2 and A  xyi  2 yz j  7 xzk find:

(i) A   (ii) A   (iii) div curl A
(iv) curl grad  at the point (1, -1, 1)
1
21- If r  x 2  y 2  z 2 prove that  2    0
r
22- If A  2 yzi  x 2 y j  xz 2 k , B  x 2 i  yz j  xyk ,   2x 2 yz3
a) A    b) B    c) B   A
b) A    e) A   f) A    B
c) A     B at the point 1,1,2
23-    
If A  3y 2 z  z i  xz 3  y 4 j  2x 3z 2 k
Find A  A  at the point (2,-1,0).

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