Brian Streit

Math 2451

Section 8.3 Selected Solutions

2. (a) Let
F (x; y) = xy; y 2 = (P; Q)
and let c be the path y = 2x2 joining (0; 0) to (1; 2) in R2 . We have

c (t) = t; 2t2 ; t 2 [0; 1]

so c0 (t) = (1; 4t), F (c (t)) = 2t3 ; 4t4 and

2t3 ; 4t4 (1; 4t) = 2t3 + 16t5 :

Now, using the de…nition of the line integral, we compute

Z Z1 Z1
0 t4 8 6 1 1 8 19
F ds = F (c (t)) c (t) dt = 2t3 + 16t5 dt = + t j0 = + = :
2 3 2 3 6
c 0 0

(b) Yes, the integral in part (a) depends on the path joining (0; 0) to (1; 2).
Since
r F = (Qx Py ) k = yk = 6 0
we conclude that F is not a conservative vector …eld and therefore is path-
dependent.

3. If
F (x; y; z) = 2xyz + sin x; x2 z; x2 y = (F1 ; F2 ; F3 )
@f
then we must …nd f such that rf = F. To this end, we have @x = F1 and
integrating with respect to x yields
Z
f = (2xyz + sin x) dx = x2 yz cos x + g (y; z)

where g (y; z) is a function to be determined that is constant in x. Similarly we

have @f
@y = F2 and integrating with respect to y yields
Z
f = x2 zdy = x2 yz + h (x; z)

where h (x; z) is a function to be determined. Also @f

@y = F3 and integrating
with respect to z yields
Z
f = x2 ydz = x2 yz + k (x; y)

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where k (x; y) is to be determined. Finally,

f = x2 yz cos x + g (y; z) = x2 yz + h (x; z) = x2 yz + k (x; y)

so h (x; z) = k (x; y) = cos x and g (y; z) = 0. We conclude that

f (x; y; z) = x2 yz cos x:

4. If c (t) = cos5 t; sin3 t; t4 ; 0 t and F is as in the previous exercise

then since F = rf where f (x; y; z) = x2 yz cos x we have
Z Z
F ds = rf ds = f (c ( )) f (c (0)) :
c c

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We have c ( ) = 1; 0; and c (0) = (1; 0; 0) so that
4
f (c ( )) = f 1; 0; = cos ( 1)

and
f (c (0)) = (1; 0; 0) = cos (1) :
Since cos x is even, that is cos ( x) = cos x for every x 2 R, we have
Z
F ds = cos ( 1) + cos (1) = cos (1) + cos (1) = 0:
c

5. If f (x) is a smooth function of one variable then f is integrable so that

by the fundamental theorem of calculus there is some primitive function F (x)
such that F 0 (x) = f (x). Now, choose g (x; y) = F (x) + F (y) so that
@ @
rg (x; y) = (F (x) + F (y)) i + (F (x) + F (y)) j = f (x) i + f (y) j = F.
@x @y
We conclude that F is a gradient …eld.

6. (a) Let r 6= 0 and

1 1
f (x; y; z) = =p
r x2 + y 2 + z 2
then
@f x
= 3 :
@x (x2 + y 2 + z 2 ) 2
we have analogous results for y and z so that
@f @f @f ( x; y; z) r
rf = ; ; = 3 = 3:
@x @y @z (x2 + y 2 + z 2 ) 2 krk

2
 r 3
(b) From part (a) we have krk 3 = rf . Let r0 6= 0; x 2 R . To compute the

work from r0 to "1" we should evaluate the integral over a path c from r0 to
x as kxk ! 1 so
Z
r
W = lim 3 ds = lim f (x) f (r0 )
kxk!1 krk kxk!1
c
1 1 1
= lim = :
kxk!1 kxk kr0 k kr0 k

7. We compute

i j k
@ @ @
r F= @x @y @z = x 6= 0
xy y z

so the answer is no.

8. From exercise 23 in the chapter 2 review we have

p
f ( x) = f (x)

implies
x rf (x) = pf (x)
where x = (x; y; z). Here t = 1 and

Fk (tx) = tFk (x)

for k = 1; 2; 3 so
x rFk (x) = Fk (x) :
First, we have

i j k
@ @ @ @F3 @F2 @F3 @F1 @F2 @F1
r F= @x @y @z = i j+ k=0
@y @z @x @z @x @y
F1 F2 F3

so that
@F3 @F2 @F3 @F1 @F2 @F1
= ; = ; and = :
@y @z @x @z @x @y
Now, we want to show rf = F. We have

3
 @
2rf = r (2f ) = r (xF1 + yF2 + zF3 ) = (xF1 + yF2 + zF3 ) i
@x
@ @
+ (xF1 + yF2 + zF3 ) j + (xF1 + yF2 + zF3 ) k
@y @z
@F1 @F2 @F3 @F2 @F1 @F3
= F1 + x +y +z i + F2 + y +x +z j
@x @x @x @y @y @y
@F3 @F1 @F2
+ F3 + z +x +y k
@z @z @z
@F1 @F2 @F3 @F1 @F1 @F3
= F1 i + x +y +z i + F2 j + y +x +z j
@x @x @x @y @y @y
@F3 @F1 @F2
+F3 k + z +x +y k:
@z @z @z
But
@F1 @F2 @F3 @F1 @F1 @F1
x +y +z =x +y +z = x rF1 = F1
@x @x @x @x @y @z
from our assumptions. Similarly
@F1 @F2 @F3 @F2 @F2 @F2
x +y +z =x +y +z = x rF2 = F2
@y @y @y @x @y @z
and
@F1 @F2 @F3 @F3 @F3 @F3
x +y +z =x +y +z = x rF3 = F3 :
@z @z @z @x @y @z
Therefore

2rf = F1 i + F2 j + F3 k + F1 i + F2 j + F3 k = F + F = 2F

or rf = F, as desired.

12. (a) If C + is the unit circle oriented in a counterclockwise manner then

x = cos t; dx = sin t; y = sin t; dy = cos t

with t 2 [0; 2 ]. We compute

Z Z2
xdy ydx cos2 t + sin2 t
= =2 :
x2 + y 2 cos2 t + sin2 t
C+ 0

(b) Observe that

Z Z
xdy ydx
= F ds
x2 + y 2
C+ C+

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where
y x
F (x; y) = i+ 2 j.
x2 + y 2 x + y2
Since C + is an oriented simple closed curve and
Z
F ds 6= 0
C+

we conclude that F is not a conservative vector …eld.

(c) If
F (x; y) = P (x; y) i + Q (x; y) j
then we compute
y 2 x2
Qx = = Py :
x2 + y 2
This does not contradict the corollary to theorem 7 since in the corollary F must
be C 1 on R2 . Here F is not C 1 at the origin. Indeed, along the path x = y

lim Qx = 0
x!0

but along the path x = 0 we have

lim Qx = 1:
y!0

14. In this problem, we apply the cross-derivative test. For example, for
problem (a),
@F1 @F2
= x sin xy x sin xy x2 y cos xy 2x sin xy x2 y cos xy = 0;
@y @x
so F is indeed the gradient of some function on the plane. To …nd such a
function, we seek f satisfying
@f
= F2 = x2 sin xy;
@y
for example, f (x; y) = x cos xy. Of course, f is unique only up to an additive
constant. Part (b) and (c) proceed similarly. (b) is not a gradient …eld. For
part (c), f (x; y) = x2 cos y + x cos y is a function whose gradient is the given
…eld.

15. By applying the cross-derivative test, one …rst veri…es that each …eld F
is conservative. A function f whose gradient equals F can then be found by
integrating, and making consistent, the two equations
@f @f
= Fx ; = Fy :
@x @x

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Finally, the path integral can be computed by simply taking the di¤erence
between the values of f at the endpoints of the curve in each case (here the
ambiguous additive constant in the choice of f is irrelevant, since it cancels
itself out when the di¤erence is taken).
(a) f (x; y) = 21 x3 y + x2 y 2 and f (3; 0) f (1; 1) = 0 23 = 23 :
1
(b) f (x; y) = x2 + 1 y 2 + 1 and f (0; 0) f ( 1; 0) = 1 2 = 1:
(c) f (x; y) = x cos xy 2 and f (1; e) f e 1 ; 1 = cos e2 e 1 cos e 1 .

16. Suppose div F = 0, we want to …nd G such that F = r G. Let

Z z Z y Z z
G1 (x; y; z) = F2 (x; y; t) dt F3 (x; t; 0) dt, G2 (x; y; z) = F1 (x; y; t) dt,
0 0 0

and G3 (x; y; z) = 0. Since

@G3 @G2 @G1 @G3 @G2 @G1
r G= i+ j+ k
@y @z @z @x @x @y
we have
Z z
@G3 @G2 @ @
= (G2 (x; y; z)) = F1 (x; y; t) dt = F1 (x; y; z) ;
@y @z @z @z 0

by the FTOC (Fundamental Theorem of Calculus). We similarly …nd that

Z z Z y
@G1 @G3 @
= F2 (x; y; t) dt F3 (x; t; 0) dt = F2 (x; y; z)
@z @x @z 0 0
Z y
since F3 (x; t; 0) dt is constant in z. Next, we …nd
0
Z z Z z Z
@G2 @G1 @F1 @F2 @ y
= (x; y; t) dt (x; y; t) dt + F3 (x; t; 0) dt
@x @y 0 @x 0 @y @y 0
Z z
@F1 @F2
= F3 (x; y; 0) (x; y; t) + (x; y; t) dt:
0 @x @y

However, div F = @F @F2 @F3 @F1 @F2

@x + @y + @z = 0 so @x + @y =
1 @F3
@z and, by the FTOC,
we have
Z z Z z
@F1 @F2 @F3
(x; y; t) + (x; y; t) dt = (x; y; t) dt = F3 (x; y; 0) F3 (x; y; z) :
0 @x @y 0 @z

@G2 @G1
Therefore @x @y = F3 (x; y; z) ;and we conclude that F = r G, as desired.

25. (a) We have for r 6= 0,

r
r F = GM m r
r2
3
r 3x2 r r3 3y 2 r r3 3z 2 r
= GM m + + = 0:
r6 r6 r6

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(b) If F = curl G for some G, then by Stokes’ theorem, the integral of the
normal component of F over the entire sphere would be zero (this is because
the whole unit sphere as a surface has empty boundary). But this integral is
clearly not zero, so no such G can exist.