Vector Calculus at A Glance

 unification of calculus and vector

methods
 Most important application - analysis
of motion in space
 Vectors – use as the input and output
of certain operators.
 The following table summarizes the
sorts of objects we get by doing this,
and what their derivatives and
integrals are called.

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The column labeled ”Function” gives the
domain and range of the type of function
considered.
Function Notation Name Derivati

r (t ) d
curve r (t )
dt

f (p), p point in 2-space scalar field grad f ,

or 3-space

parameterized
surface

div F
F (p), p point in 2-space vector field
or 3-space curl F

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CHAPTER 4 DIFFERENTIAL
VECTOR CALCULUS

4.1 Vector Functions and Space

Curves

4.2 Unit Tangent and Normal

Vectors

4.3 Motion in Space: Velocity

and Acceleration

4.4 Directional Derivatives and

Gradient

4.5 Vector Fields

4.6 Divergence and Curl

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REVIEW: Vectors
Scalar – a quantity only with its magnitude
Example: temperature, speed, mass, volume
Vector – a quantity with its magnitude and
its direction
Example: velocity acceleration, force
z

j
y
i

Vector is denoted by A, A or A.
OA - position vector
AB - displacement vector
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Vector Form of a Line Segment
If r0 is vector in 2-space or 3-space with
its initial point at the origin, then the line
that passes through the terminal point of r0
and is parallel to the vector v can be
expressed in vector form as r r0 tv .
r r0 t(r1 r0 ) or r (1 t )r0 tr1

Vector Algebra
 Addition

 associative law
A (B C ) (A B) C

 commutative law A B B A

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  multiplication by scalar
kB
B

 distributive law
k (B C) kB ) kC

 unit vectors: i , j , k

A A1, A2, A3 A1i A2 j A3 k

i 1, 0, 0 , j 0, 1, 0 , k 0, 0, 1

v
Unit vector, u of v : u
v

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  scalar product (dot product)
A B A B cos AB

A B B A

A (B C) A B A C

A B A1B1 A2B2 A3B3

 vector product (cross product)

A B A B sin AB

A B

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A B B A B A

A (B C) (A B) C

i j k
A B A1 A2 A3
B1 B2 B3

A1 A2 A3
A (B C) B1 B2 B3
C1 C2 C3

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4.1 Vector Functions and Space
Curves
4.1.1 Vector-valued function
Definition 4.1
A vector-valued function ( or simply vector
function) is a function whose domain is a set
of real numbers and whose range is a set of
vectors.
Vector function, r (t ):
r (t ) f (t ), g(t ), h(t )
where f, g, and h are real-valued functions
called the component functions of r ; t is the
independent variable (time).
Note
 If domains are intervals of real numbers,
the vector functions represent a space
curve

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 If domains are regions in the plane, the
vector functions represent surfaces in
space.

Example 4.1
Find the domain of the vector function
t t
r (t ) ln t i j e k
t 1

Solution
Component 1, f : t 0
Component 2, g : t 1
Component 3, h : any t

Therefore, domain D is
0 t 1 and 1 t

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4.1.2 Graph of a Vector Function

Consider a particle moving through space

during a time interval I. The coordinates
are seen as functions defined as:
x f (t ) , y g(t ) , z h(t ) , t I (1)

The points (x, y, z ) (f (t ), g(t ), h(t ))

make up the curve in space, called the
particle’s path.

Eqn. (1) parametrize the curve. A curve in

space can also be represented in vector
form. The vector

r (t ) f (t )i g(t )j h(t )k

is the particle’s position vector.

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Definition 4.2
Let F be a vector function, and suppose
the initial point of the vector F (t ) is at the
origin. The graph of F is the curve traced
out by the terminal point of the vector
F (t ) as t varies over the domain set D.
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Example 4.2
Sketch the graph of the vector function
r (t ) ti (t 2 3)j , 2 t 2
Label the position of r ( 2), r (1) and r (2).

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Example 4.2a
Sketch the graph of the vector function
F (t ) (3 t )i (2t )j ( 4 3t )k
for all t.

Solution
The graph is a collection of all points
(x, y, z ) with
x 3 t ,y 2t , z 4 3t
fo all t.
These are parametric equations for the line
in 3 that contains the point P0(3, 0, 4) and
is aligned with the vector v i 2 j 3k .

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Example 4.3
Sketch the graph of the following vector
function.

F (t ) (2 sin t )i (2 cos t )j 5k

Solution
Get the parametric equations for the
curve:
x  2 si n t
y   2 cos t
z  5
If we ignore the z equation for a bit we’ll
see that the parametric equations for x and
y give a circle of radius 2 centered on the
z-axis.
The parametric equations here tell us is
that no matter what is going on in the
graph, all the z coordinates must be 5.
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So, we get a circle of radius 2 centered on
the z-axis and at the level of z=5.

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Example 4.3a
Sketch the graph of the vector function
F (t ) (2 sin t )i (2 cos t )j (5t )k

Solution

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Example 4.4
Identify the surface that is described by
F (x, y ) xi yj (x 2 y 2 )k
Solution
Notice that in this case the vector function
is a function of two variables.
To identify the surface let’s go back to
parametric equations.
x x, y y, z x2 y2
The first two are really only
acknowledging that we are picking x and y
for free and then determining z form our
choices of these two.
The last equation is the one that we want.
We recognize it as the equation of an
elliptic paraboloid.
So the vector function represents an
elliptic paraboloid.
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Example 4.4a
Find a vector function that represents the
curve of intersection, C, of the paraboloid
z 4x 2 y 2 and the parabolic cylinder
y x 2.
Solution
1. The projection of the curve, C, of
intersection onto the xy-plane is the
2
parabola y x , z 0. Then we can
choose the parameter
x t y t2
2. Since C also lies on the surface
z 4x 2 y 2 , we have
z 4x 2 y 2 4t 2 (t 2 )2 4t 2 t 4 3.
Parametric equations for C:
2 2 4
x t, y t , z 4t t
4. The vector function:
r (t ) ti t 2 j (4t 2 t 4 )k
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 (Continued)
• 3-D view: xy-plane view:

yz-plane view: xz-plane view:

The End
5

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Summary
 Given any function, we can always write
down a vector form of the equation.
For example the hyperbolic paraboloid
y 2x 2 5z 2 , can be written as:
r (t ) xi (2x 2 5z 2 )j zk
 There are two ways to get the graph of
a space curve from a vector function.
The first is to think of the graph as the set
of points (x, y, z ) where,
x f (t ) , y g(t ) , z h(t ) , t I
These are also the parametric equations
for the curve.
The second way of thinking of the graph
is to think of
r (t ) f (t ), g(t ), h(t )
as the position vector of the point
(f (t ), g(t ), h(t )).
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4.1.3 Vector Functions Operations
Theorem 4.1

Let F̂ and Ĝ be vector functions of the real

variable t , and let f (t) be a scalar function. Then

i.  ˆ  Gˆ  ( t )  Fˆ ( t )  Gˆ ( t )
F

( f Fˆ )(t)  f (t) Fˆ (t)

ii.

iii. Fˆ  Gˆ ( t )  Fˆ ( t )  Gˆ ( t )

iv.  ˆ  Gˆ  ( t )  Fˆ ( t )  Gˆ ( t )
F

Example 4.5
ˆ ~ ~ 2~
Let F  2 t i  5 j  t k ,
ˆ ~ 1~
G  (1  t)i  k
t ,
ˆ ~ t ~
H  (sin t ) i  e j

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Find (i) t Fˆ ( t )  3 H
2 ˆ (t )
ˆ (t )
(ii) Fˆ ( t )  G

(iii) Fˆ ( t )  H
ˆ (t )


ˆ ( t )  Gˆ ( t )
(iv) Fˆ ( t )  H 
Solution
2~
(i) t (2t i  5 j  t k )  3(sin t~
2 ~ ~ t~
i  e j)
~ t ~ 4~
 (2t  3sin t)i  (5t  3e ) j  t k
3 2

 ~ ~ 2~ 
 ~ 1 ~
(ii) 2t i  5 j  t k   (1  t)i  k 
 t 
 (2t  2t )  t  3t  2t
2 2

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 ~ ~ ~
i j k
(iii) Fˆ (t)  Hˆ (t)  2t  5 t2
sin t et 0

~ 2 ~ ~
 t e i  t sin t j  (2te  5 sin t)k
2 t t

2t  5 t2
 
(iv) Fˆ (t)  Hˆ (t)  Gˆ (t)  sin t et 0
1
1 t 0
t

5
 2e  sin t  (t  t )e
t 3 2 t
t

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