Electromagnetic Fields (ECEG-2122)

Chapter 1

Learning Outcomes
Students should be able to:
find the line, surface, volume integral in Cartesian,
Cylinderical and Spherical coordinates;
find the divergence,gradient and curl of a vector or scalar
field expressed in terms of any coordinates.

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Chapter 1 Review of Vectors
Contents

Introduction
Scalar & Vector Fields
Line, Surface, & Volume Intergrals
Gradient of a Scalar Field
Divergence & Curl of a Vector Field
The Divergence & Stokes’ Theorem
Laplacian of a Scalar Field
Solenoidal & Irrotational Vector Fields
Helmholz’s Theorem

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Chapter 1 Review of Vectors
Introduction

Definition of Electromagnetics
Electromagnetics (EM) is a branch of physics or electrical
engineering in which electric and magnetic phenomena are
studied.

Exercise
List and discuss at least ten EM devices.
Transformers, electric relays, radio/TV, telephone, electric
motors, transmission lines, waveguides, antennas, optical
fibers, radars ...

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Chapter 1 Review of Vectors
Scalar & Vector Fields
Scalar Fields
Scalar fields are fields that has only magnitude. (It is a field
that has a particular value at every point in space.)
Examples of scalar quantities include mass, charge, density and
temperature.

Vector Fields
Vector fields are fields that has both magnitude and direction.
(It is a field that has a value and direction at every point in
space.)
Examples of vector quantities include velocity, acceleration,
force, and momentum.

Give at least three examples for scalar fields and vector fields.
(Hint: An example of a scalar fields can be temperature
distribution in a room) 4/19
Chapter 1 Review of Vectors
Line, Surface & Volume Integrals

In electrodynamics, we encounter several different kinds of

integrals, among which the most important are
Line Integrals
A line integral is an expression of the form
Z b
v · dl,
a
where v is a vector function, dl is the infinitesimal
displacement vector and the integral is to be carried out along
a prescribed path P from point a to point b.

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Chapter 1 Review of Vectors
Line, Surface & Volume Integrals ...

Surface Integrals
A surface integral is an expression of the form
Z
v · da,
S
where v is again some vector function, and the integral is over
a specified surface S. Here da is an infinitesimal patch of area,
with direction perpendicular to the surface.

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Chapter 1 Review of Vectors
Line, Surface & Volume Integrals...

Volume Integrals
A volume integral is an expression of the form
Z
T · dτ ,
v
where T is a scalar function and dτ is an infinitesimal volume
element. In cartesian coordinates,

dτ = dxdydz

For example, if T is the density of a substance (which might

vary from point to point), then the volume integral would give
the total mass.

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Chapter 1 Review of Vectors
Gradient of Scalar Field

The gradient of a scalar field is a vector field and whose

magnitude is the rate of change and which points in the
direction of the greatest rate of increase of the scalar field. If
the vector is resolved, its components represent the rate of
change of the scalar field with respect to each directional
component.

Suppose that T1 = T (x, y , z) is the temperature at point

P1 = (x, y , z) in some region of space, and
T2 = T (x + dx, y + dy , z + dz) is the temperature at a nearby
point P2 = (x + dx, y + dy , z + dz). The differential distance
dx, dy , and dz are the components of the differential distance
vector dl. That is,dl = x̂dx + ŷdy + ẑdz.
From differential calculus, the temperature difference between
points P1 and P2 , dT = T2 − T1 , is
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Chapter 1 Review of Vectors
Gradient of a Scalar Field ...

∂T ∂T ∂T
dT = dx + dy + dz.
∂x ∂y ∂z

Because dx = x̂.dl, dy = ŷ.dl and dz = ẑ.dl, can be rewritten as

∂T ∂T ∂T ∂T ∂T ∂T
dT = x̂ · dl + ŷ · dl + ẑ · dl = [x̂ + ŷ + ẑ ] · dl.
∂x ∂y ∂z ∂x ∂y ∂z

The vector inside the square brackets in the above equation

relates the change in temperature dT to a vector change in
direction dl. This vector is called the gradient of T , or grad
T for short, and denoted ∇T :

∇T =grad T = x̂ ∂T ∂T ∂T
∂x + ŷ ∂y + ẑ ∂z .
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Gradient of a Scalar Field ...

So,
dT = ∇T · dl.

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Chapter 1 Review of Vectors
Divergence & Curl of a Vector Field

The divergence and curl of a vector field are two vector operators
whose basic properties can be understood geometrically by viewing
a vector field as the flow of a fluid or gas.
Divergence of a Vector Field
We define the divergence of a vector field E at a point as the
net outward flux per unit volume over a closed incremental
surface by shrinking the volume ∆V to zero.

Thus,
H
s E · ds
div E , lim
∆v →0 ∆v

where S encloses the elemental volume ∆V . Instead of denoting

the divergence of E by div E, it is common practice to denote it as
∇·E
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Chapter 1 Review of Vectors
Divergence & Curl of a Vector Field ...

Curl of a Vector Field

The curl of a vector field B describes its rotational property, or
circulation. The circulation of B is defined as the line integral
of B around a closed contour C ;

I
Circulation = B · dl
C
.

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Chapter 1 Review of Vectors
Divergence & Stokes’ Theorem

Divergence Theorem
In vector calculus, the divergence theorem, also known as
Gauss’s theorem or Ostrogradsky’s theorem, is a result that
relates the flux of a vector field through a closed surface to the
divergence of the field in the volume enclosed.
More precisely, the divergence theorem states that the surface
integral of a vector field over a closed surface, which is called
the flux through the surface, is equal to the volume integral of
the divergence over the region inside the surface.

Z I
O · Edv = E · ds
v s
(DivergenceTheorem)
where E is the vector field 13/19
Chapter 1 Review of Vectors
Divergence & Stokes’ Theorem ...

Stokes’s Theorem
In vector calculus, and more generally differential geometry,
Stokes’ theorem (sometimes spelled Stokes’s theorem, and also
called the generalized Stokes theorem or the Stokes–Cartan
theorem) is a statement about the integration of differential
forms on manifolds, which both simplifies and generalizes
several theorems from vector calculus.

Z I
(O × B) · ds = B · dl
s C

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Chapter 1 Review of Vectors
Laplacian of a Scalar Field

The Laplacian of a scalar function V is denoted by ∇2 V (the

symbol ∇2 is pronounced "del square"). That is,

∂2V ∂2V ∂2V

∇2 V = ∇ · (∇V ) = + +
∂x 2 ∂y 2 ∂z 2

As we can see from the above equation the Laplacian of a

scalar function is a scalar.
The Laplacian of a scalar can be used to define the Laplacian
of a vector. For a vector E specified in Cartesian coordinates as

E = x̂Ex + ŷEy + ẑEz ,

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Chapter 1 Review of Vectors
Laplacian of a Scalar Field ...

the Laplacian of E is

∂2 ∂2 ∂2
 
2
∇ E= + + E
∂x 2 ∂y 2 ∂z 2
= x̂∇2 Ex + ŷ∇2 Ey + ẑ∇2 Ez .

Thus, in Cartesian coordinates the Laplacian of a vector is a

vector whose components are equal to the Laplacians of the
vector components. Through direct substitution, it can be
shown that

∇2 E = ∇ (∇ · E) − ∇ × (∇ × E) .

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Chapter 1 Review of Vectors
Solenoidal & Irrotational Vector Fields

Solenoidal Vector Field

A solenoidal vector field (also known as an incompressible
vector field, a divergence-free vector field, or a transverse
vector field) is a vector field v with divergence zero at all
points in the field:

∇·v=0

Irrotational Vector Field

A vector field v is called irrotational if and only if its curl is 0.
For this reason, such vector fields are sometimes referred to as
curl-free vector fields or curl-less vector fields.

∇×v≡0
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Chapter 1 Review of Vectors
Helmholtz’s Theorem

Helmholtz’s theorem states that any sufficiently smooth,

rapidly decaying vector field in three dimmensions can be
resolved into the sum of an irrotational (curl-free) vector field
and a solenoidal (divergence-free) vector field.

As an irrotational vector field has a scalar potential and a

solenoidal vector field has a vector potential, the Helmholtz
decomposition states that a vector field can be decomposed as
a sum of the form −∇φ + ∇ × A, where φ is a scalar field
called "scalar potential", and A is a vector field, called a
vector potential.

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Chapter 1 Review of Vectors
Reading Assignment: Orthogonal Curvilinear Coordinates

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Chapter 1 Review of Vectors