Lecture Notes on

Vector Calculus
Gradient, Divergence and Curl
The mathematical concepts of gradient, divergence and curl form the basics
of vector calculus and have relevance to several scientific and engineering appli-
cations, as they are useful in describing physical phenomena and processes in a
concise manner. They provide a convenient toolbox and formalism to understand
and analyze different aspects of dynamics including fluid dynamics and transport
phenomena such as particle diffusion, flow of electricity, heat and viscosity pertain-
ing to different branches of engineering, and fundamental physics. While taught
as a part of a mathematics course, students generally find it difficult to grasp the
physical meaning of these topics and are often unable to connect properly with
the relevance of these concepts to engineering applications. These lectures address
this issue precisely, by providing mathematical definitions, physical examples and
training to work out problems related to physics and engineering.

Gradient of a Scalar field

We know in general that derivative of a function f (x), with respect to a variable
x, gives the rate of change of the function with respect to the variable. That is, a
change in x amounting to dx will introduce a change df to the function f . Now if
the function is a multi-variable function given by, f = f (x, y, z), then in-order to
generalize the concept of derivative to a multi-variable function like this, we use
partial derivatives. Using partial derivatives, one can write

∂f ∂f ∂f
df = ∂x
dx + ∂y
dy + ∂z
dz

Here, df represents the total derivative and ∂f represents the partial derivative of
f . Therefore df tells us how the function changes, when we alter the variables x, y
and z by an infinitesimal amount dx, dy, dz. Essentially, this derivative looks like
a dot product, df = ∇f.dr, where ∇f = ∂f∂x
x̂ + ∂f
∂y
ŷ + ∂f
∂z
ẑ, is called the gradient
#»
of the scalar function f and dr = dxx̂ + dy ŷ + dz ẑ. The dot product involved
indicates that the gradient of f is a vector which point towards the maximum rate
of change of the scalar function f . Therefore the magnitude of ∇f will give the
slope along this direction. Do you know what it indicates when a derivative go to
zero for a single variable function? What does the gradient going to zero indicate
for a multi variable function?

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Divergence of a vector field
You are now familiar with the vector operator called “del” which has the ap-
∂ ∂ ∂
pearance ∇ = ∂x
x̂ + ∂y
ŷ + ∂z
ẑ . Similar to a vector which can be multiplied to a
scalar and another vector in different ways, this operator which is a vector opera-
tor can also be operated on scalars and vectors in diverse ways. The first one could
be as simple as a vector multiplied by a scalar (i.e ∇f ).This gives the gradient of
#»
f . Now if you have a vector point function F , then this operator could operate on
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the specified function F either through a dot product or a cross product. The dot
#»
product would give the divergence of the vector function F and the cross product
gives the curl. Gradient, divergence and curl are all vector derivatives.

What does divergence of a vector field signify? Divergence of a vector function

gives information about the amount of spread the vector has from the point of
interest. Therefore, if a vector function has a positive divergence it means that
the function spreads out largely and vice versa. What would a negative divergence
indicate? If there is no resultant spread of vector field, then the divergence will
be zero.

Curl of a vector field

#»
As discussed in previous section, curl of a vector field F is defined by a cross
#»
product ∇ × F . Curl of a vector field is again a vector. Curl is a cross product
and not a determinant though students find it convenient to work with it in the
form of a determinant.

Physically curl represents the curling of a vector around a point of interest.

The right hand thumb rule will give you the direction of curl. In every day life,
you come across many vector fields with non-zero curl. Can you think of some of
them? Remember the cyclone we had last month? The velocity field associated
with the cyclone had a non-zero curl!

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Have you noticed how water flows through a river? The water stream is steady
near the river bank with a low velocity compared to that at the center. Fluid
flowing in this fashion can curl a twig or any long object placed perpendicular to
the direction of flow, when it is being carried away with the stream. Had it been
not the case, the twig you placed would only be translated along with the flow,
not rotated!

reference
1. David J Griffiths, Introduction to Electrodynamics, American Association
of Physics Teachers, 2005 .

2. Riley, K. F., Hobson, M. P., Bence, S. J. Mathematical methods for physics

and engineering: a comprehensive guide. Cambridge university press, 2006.

3. http://www.leadinglesson.com
“You will find lot of practice problems in vector calculus in this website. ”

4. https://www.khanacademy.org/math/multivariable-calculus/multivariable-derivatives
/divergence-and-curl-articles/a/divergence
“This website has lot of physical interpretations and visualizations of vectors
and vector derivatives.”

5. https://kevinmehall.net/p/equationexplorer/index.html
“This website help you to visualize vector fields. If you can write it, you can
see it! Go and explore this space
site and physically visualize all vector fields
which you have only mathematically written so far!”

6. http://physicsgirl.org/
“This is a must visit webpage for some fun physics experience. Physics and
physical interpretations of mathematical tools are discussed in a simple and
fun way. Physics is fashion!”