Flux

Based on lecture notes by James McKernan

Let M R3 be a two dimensional parametrized surface defined by a diffeomorphism ~r : D M , for some D R2 .
Definition 1. Let f : M R be a scalar function on M . The integral of f over
M is defined as


ZZ
ZZ

~r
~r
ds dt.
(s,
t)

(s,
t)
f dS =
f (~r(s, t))

s
t
M
D
We also denote sometimes T~t = ~r/t and likewise T~s = ~r/s.
If we define ~r(s, t) = (x(s, t), y(s, t), z(s, t)), then
s





ZZ
ZZ
 (x, y) 2  (y, z) 2  (x, z) 2
 +
 +

f dS =
f (~r(s, t)) 
 (s, t) 
 (s, t)  ds dt.
(s, t) 
M
D
Example 2. Suppose M is the graph of a function g : D R. Then M is
parametrized by ~r(s, t) = (s, t, g(s, t)). Hence

1 0
(x, y, z)
= 0 1
(s, t)
gx gy
and


(x, y)
1 0
=
0 1.
(s, t)


(y, z)
0
1
=
gx gy .
(s, t)


(x, z)
1
0
=

gx gy .
(s, t)
Therefore
ZZ

ZZ
f dS =

q
f (s, t, g(s, t)) 1 + gx (s, t)2 + gy (s, t)2 ds dt.

Example 3. The area of a paraboloid g(x, y) = x2 + y 2 over D = {(s, t) R2 :

s2 + t2 1} is
Z 2 Z 1 p
ZZ p
1 + 4s2 + 4t2 ds dt =
1 + 4r2 r dr d
D

0
1

1
= 2
1 + 4u du
0 2

 3/2
=
5 1 .
6
Z

Definition 4. Let F~ : M R3 be a vector field on M . The flux of F~ through M

is defined by


ZZ
ZZ
~r ~r
~
~
~
F dS =
F (~r(s, t))

ds dt.
s
t
M
D
1

Let
n
=

~
r
s
r
k ~
s

~
r
t
.
~
r
t k

Then
ZZ

~=
F~ dS

ZZ

(F~ n
) dS.
M

Note: because ~r is a diffeomorphism, it always points to the same side of M .

Example 5. Find the flux of the vector field given by

F~ (x, y, z) = x + 2y
+ 3z k,
through the triangle M given by
M = {(x, y, z) R3 : x 0, y 0, z 0, x + y + z = 1}.
The parametrization is ~r = (x, y, z) = (s, t, 1 s t), for
D = {(s, t) : 0 s 1, 0 t 1 s}.
Hence

k
T~s T~t = 1 0 1 = + + k
0 1 1

and
F~ (~r(s, t)) (T~t (s, t) T~s (s, t)) = x + 2y + 3z = 3 2s t.
Therefore the flux is
ZZ

(3 2s t) ds dt =
D

1t

(3 2s t) ds dt
0

= 1.
Example 6. Recall that the sphere can be parametrized by
~r(, ) = (a sin cos , a sin sin , a cos ).
Hence the tangent vectors are
~r
= (a cos cos , a cos sin , a sin ),
T~ =

~r
= (a sin sin , a sin cos , 0).
T~ =

and
T~ T~ = a2 sin2 cos + a2 sin2 sin
+ a2 cos sin k
= a sin ~r(, ).
Let F~ (x, y, z) be constant: F~ = (F1 , F2 , F3 ). Calculate the flux of F~ through the
sphere.

The flux is
ZZ
Z
~
~
~
F T T dS =

F~ T~ T~ d d

Z
a sin

F~ ~r(, ) d d

Z 2
(F1 a sin cos + F2 a sin sin + F3 a cos ) d d
sin
0
Z 0
= 2a2 F3
sin cos d
Z

=a

= 0.