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PYL100:
Electromagnetic Waves and
Quantum Mechanics
The Divergence
The Divergence
From the definition of surface integral, divergence
basically indicates the amount of vector field A(r)
that is converging to/diverging from, a given point.
For example, consider these vector fields in the
region of a specific point:
v
The Divergence:
Geometrical Interpretation:
a measure of how much
the vector field spread out at the point where the
derivatives are evaluated:
Examples:
Taps/fountain: points of +ve divergence
Sink/drain: points of ve divergence
The Curl:
From the definition of , we can construct
the cross product of with a vector, called the curl:
The Curl:
It means:
a measure of how much the vector curls
around the point in question or how much is the
rotational effect.
The Curl:
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v
In Cartesian coordinates: d = dxdydz
total change in T
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Second Derivatives:
The gradient, the divergence, and the curl are first
derivatives, which use
If we apply twice, we can construct five species
of second derivatives.
The gradient is a vector, so we can take the
divergence and curl of it:
The divergence
take gradient---
is a scalarall we can do is to
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Second Derivatives:
The curl
is a vector, so we can take its
divergence and curl:
is a
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Second Derivatives:
Curl of the gradient:
this follows from our definition of curl.
Gradient of divergence:
Please also note the following:
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