Divergence and curl:

Curl:
The name "curl" was first suggested by James Clerk Maxwell in 1871 but the concept was the
curl of a vector field apparently first used in the construction of an optical field theory by James
MacCullagh in 1839. the curl is a vector operator that describes the infinitesimal rotation of a
3-dimensional vector field. At every point in the field, the curl of that point is represented by
a vector. The attributes of this vector (length and direction) characterize the rotation at that
point.
A vector field whose curl is zero is called irrotational. The curl is a form of differentiation for
vector fields.

Curl of a Vector Field:

F=<P(x,y,z),Q(x,y,z),R(x,y,z)>, denoted curlF, is the vector field defined by the cross product

An alternative notation is

An alternative formula for the curl is

In Cartesian
In Cylindrical

In Spherical

Theorem: Let F be a three dimensional differentiable vector field with continuous partial
derivatives. Then Curl F = 0, if and only if F is conservative.

Example 1: Determine if the vector field F = yz2i + (xz2 + 2) j + (2xyz - 1) k is conservative.

Solution:

Therefore the given vector field F is conservative.

Example 2: Find the curl of F(x, y, z) = 3x2i + 2zj – xk.

Solution:
Example 3: Find the curl of F = (x2 – y)i + 4zj + x2k.Solution:

Physical interpretation of curl:

The curl measures the degree to which the fluid is rotating about a given point, with whirlpools
and tornadoes being extreme examples. . Suppose that is the velocity field of a flowing
fluid. Then represents the tendency of particles at the point (x,y,z) to rotate about the
axis that points in the direction of . If then the fluid is called irrotational.
Divergence:
A vector is a quantity that has a magnitude in a certain direction. Vectors are used to model
forces, velocities, pressures, and many other physical phenomena. A vector field is a function
that assigns a vector to every point in space. Vector fields are used to model force fields (gravity,
electric and magnetic fields), fluid flow, etc.

The divergence of a vector field F = <P,Q,R> is defined as the partial derivative of P with
respect to x plus the partial derivative of Q with respect to y plus the partial derivative of R with
respect to z.

The divergence of a vector field is also given by:

We define the divergence of a vector field at a point, as the net outward flux of per volume as the
volume about the point tends to zero.

∇ ∙ A = divA

In Cartesian
∇ ∙ A ≡ ∂Ax/∂x + ∂Ay/∂y + ∂Az/∂z

In Cylindrical
∇ ∙ A ≡ ∂(r ∙ Ay)/(r ∙ ∂r) + ∂Aø/(r ∙ ∂ø) + ∂Az/∂z

In Spherical
∇ ∙ A ≡ ∂(R2 ∙ AR)/(R2∙∂R) + ∂(Aø ∙ sinθ)/(R ∙ sinθ ∙ ∂θ) + ∂Aø/(R ∙ sinθ ∙ ∂ø)
Example 1: Compute the divergence of F(x, y) = 3x2i + 2yj.
Solution: The divergence of F(x, y) is given by ∇•F(x, y) which is a dot product.

Example 2: Calculate the divergence of the vector field G(x,y,z) = exi + ln(xy)j + exyzk.
Solution: The divergence of G(x,y,z) is given by ∇• G(x,y,z) which is a dot product. Its
components are given by:
G1 = ex
G2 = ln(xy)
G3 = exyz
and its divergence is:

Physical interpretation of divergence:

Imagine a fluid, with the vector field representing the velocity of the fluid at each point in space.
Divergence measures the net flow of fluid out of (i.e., diverging from) a given point. . If we
take as the velocity field of a flowing fluid then 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 then the is called
incompressible.
The relationship between the curl and the divergence.

Example 3 Verify the above fact for the vector field

.
Solution:
Let’s first compute the curl.

Now compute the divergence of this.