Brian Streit

Math 2451

Section 4.4 Selected Solutions

2. If V(x; y; z) = yzi + xzj + xyk then

@ @ @
div V = r V = (yz) + (xz) + (xy) = 0:
@x @y @z

4. If V(x; y; z) = x2 i + (x + y)j + (x + y + z)2 k then

@ 2 @ @
r V = (x ) + (x + y) + (x + y + z)2
@x @y @z
= 2x + 1 + 2(x + y + z) = 1 + 4x + 2z:

10. If F(x; y) = yi xj then

@ @
r V= (y) + ( x) = 0:
@x @y

y
12. Given F(x; y) = xey i ( x+y )j, we see that

@ @ y x
r V= (xey ) + ( ) = ey 2:
@x @y x + y (x + y)

14. If F(x; y; z) = yzi + xzj + xyk then

i j k
@ @ @
r F = @x @y @z
yz xz xy
@ @ @ @ @ @
= ( (xy) (zx))i (xy) (yz) j + (xz) (yz) k
@y @z @x @z @x @y
= 0.

1
 yzi xzj+xyk
16. If F(x; y; z) = x2 +y 2 +z 2 then

i j k
@ @ @
r F = @x @y @z
yz xz xy
x2 +y 2 +z 2 x2 +y 2 +z 2 x2 +y 2 +z 2
@ xy @ xz
= ( ( ) ( ))i
@y x2 + y 2 + z 2 @z x2 + y 2 + z 2
@ xy @ yz
2 2 2
j
@x x + y + z @z x + y 2 + z 2
2

@ xz @ yz
+ 2 2 2
( 2 ) k
@x x +y +z @y x + y 2 + z 2
!
x x2 + y 2 + z 2 2xy 2 x x2 + y 2 + z 2 2xz 2
= 2 + 2 i
(x2 + y 2 + z 2 ) (x2 + y 2 + z 2 )
!
y x2 + y 2 + z 2 2yx2 y x2 + y 2 + z 2 2yz 2
2 2 j
(x2 + y 2 + z 2 ) (x2 + y 2 + z 2 )
!
2xz 2 z x2 + y 2 + z 2 z x2 + y 2 + z 2 2yz 2
+ 2 2 k
(x2 + y 2 + z 2 ) (x2 + y 2 + z 2 )
! ! !
2x3 2y(x2 z 2 ) 2x3
= 2 i+ 2 j+ 2 k.
(x2 + y 2 + z 2 ) (x2 + y 2 + z 2 ) (x2 + y 2 + z 2 )

18. If F(x; y) = P (x; y)i + Q(x; y)j then

@Q @P
r F=( )k
@x @y

is called the scalar curl. Since F(x; y) = yi xj we have

@Q @P
r F=( )k =( 1 1)k = 2k.
@x @y

20. If F(x; y) = xi + yj then r F = 0.

25. Suppose towards a contradiction that F(x; y) = (y cos x) i + (x sin y) j

is a gradient vector …eld. That is, suppose

F(x; y) = P (x; y)i + Q(x; y)j = rf

for some f : R2 ! R. Since P; Q 2 C 1 , we see that f 2 C 2 . Therefore,

r F = 0:

2
But,
@Q @P
r F=( )k = (sin y cos x) k 6= 0
@x @y
for x 6= y = 4 + k , k 2 Z, a contradiction. We conclude that F is not a
gradient vector …eld.

28. Suppose r F = r G = 0.
(a) Since
r (F + G) =r F + r G;
we see that r (F + G) = 0.
(b) Since
r (F G) = G (r F) F (r G)
we see that
r (F G) = 0 , G (r F) = F (r G) :
So it is reasonable to guess that there exist some F and G such that r F =
r G = 0 but r (F G) 6= 0. Indeed, let

F(x; y; z) = zi and G(x; y; z) = xj:

Clearly r F = r G = 0; however,

i j k
F G= z 0 0 = zxk
0 x 0
so
r (F G) = x 6= 0
for x 6= 0.

31. If F(x; y; z) = xi + xyj + k then r F = yk so

(r F) (xi + xyj + k) = y 6= 0

for y 6= 0.