APPLICATIONS OF DIVERGENCE THEOREM

BY:
NS-NOUMAN ALI
DE -31-MECH-A-249
 vector field
i s orem
o rem The

 F  dS   div FdV

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e d e ia l
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dis tion is a The divergence theorem is thus a 
-He stiga orem REM. conservation law which states that the volume
nv e the EO total of all sinks and sources, the volume
i e T H
h ’ integral of the divergence, is equal to the net
--T KES flow across the volume's boundary.
STO

Gauss’s Theorem can be applied to any vector field which obeys

an inverse-square law (except at the origin), such as gravity,
electrostatic attraction, and even examples in quantum physics
such as probability density.
APPLICATION: Calculation of FLUX
The divergence theorem can
be used to calculate a flux
through a closed surface that
fully encloses a volume, like any
of the surfaces on the left.
BUT
It cannot be used to
calculate the flux through
surfaces with boundaries, like
those on the right. (Surfaces are
blue, boundaries are red.)
 APPLICATIONS : ELECTRIC FIELD
Q
S E  dS  S E  n dS  a 2 S dS
2 1 1

This shows that the electric Q

flux of E is 4πεQ through  2 A  S1 
any closed surface S that
a
Q
contains the origin.  2 4 a 2
a
This is a special case of
 4 Q
Gauss’s Law
for a single charge.
 APPLICATIONS—FLUID FLOW : Source and Sink

Another application of the Divergence Theorem occurs in

fluid flow.
 F  dS   div F dV
Sa Ba

EQUATION says that div F(P0) is the net rate   div F  P0  dV
of outward flux per unit volume at P0. Ba
(This is the reason for the name divergence.)
 div F  P0  V  Ba 
1
div F  P0   lim  F  dS
a 0 V  B 
a Sa
For this vector field, it appears that the vectors
that end near P1 are shorter than the vectors
that start near P1.
Thus, the net flow is outward near P1.
So, div F(P1) > 0 and P1 is a source.
Near P2, the incoming arrows are longer than
the outgoing arrows.
The net flow is inward.
So, div F(P2) < 0 and P2 is a sink.
Numerical simulation of fluid flow
 Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT)
• Is an imaging modality which currently shows promise for the
detection an characterization of a type of cancer.
• In the quasi-static approximation of Maxwell’s equations,
the potential within the body is governed by the following
equation:

• Using the divergence theorem applied to Eq. 1, we

find that, for the potentials due to two current patterns
 APPLICATION IN ADVANCED GRAPHICS
IN ADVANCED GRAPHICS LIKE
THAT SHOWN IN FIGURES, THE
BODY IS CONSIDERED TO BE
ENCLOSED COMPLETELY AND ITS
COMPULSORY TO DEFINE
CENTROID , THE CALCULATION OF
WHICH REQUIRES DOUBLE
INTEGRAL.

The centroid of a surface is

the center of mass of the
volume enclosed by the
surface.
 Centroids
• Method
1. The x, y and z co-ordinates of the center of mass
of a volume V can be expressed as an integral
over V.
2. Using the Divergence Theorem, which relates the
integral over a volume to the integral over the
surface of the volume, the co-ordinate integrals
can be re-written as integrals over the surface.
3. These surface integrals can be converted to
integrals over the projections of each of the
polyhedral faces.
4. Using Green’s Theorem, which relates the integral
over a planar area to the integral around its
boundary, the integrals over the faces can be
reduced to integrals over the projections of the
edges. The edges are linear.
• As a result of the divergence theorem, a host of physical laws can be
written in both a differential form (where one quantity is the
divergence of another) and an integral form (where the flux of one
quantity through a closed surface is equal to another quantity).

Applying the divergence theorem to the product of a scalar

function g and a vector field F, the result is

•Applying the divergence theorem to the cross-product of two

vector fields  , the result is

Applying the divergence theorem to the product of a scalar function, f, and a non-
zero constant vector, the following theorem can be proven:

Applying the divergence theorem to the cross-product of a vector field F and a

non-zero constant vector, the following theorem can be proven:
 The Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Model (OLAM):
A re-formulation of RAMS for global modeling

OLAM Equations:

V
vV p 2ρOMEGA v+ g FV ρ
t
Momentum conservation

ρ U V W
t x y z
Mass conservation
ρΘ
Θ V FΘ
t
Energy conservation
ρs
sV Fs
t
Scalar mass conservation
C R
P d
C
V 1 C
V
p= ρd R d + v Rv θ ρ
p0 Equation of state
 Conservation of Momentum

d         

dt t
 ( x , t )u ( x , t ) d x  t
 ( x , t ) f ( x , t ) dx   t
σ ( x , t )n ds

Divergence
Transport theorem
theorem
d      
( u )  (u  )( u )  ( u ) div u  g  div σ  0
dt

 
du   1 2
 (u  )u  p   u  f
dt 
Momentum equation
Application of Divergence Theorem
to Conservation of Mass
  
Start with
Conservation of 
V
t
dV   V  ndS  0
S
Mass:
   
Apply Divergence
theorem
 F  ndS     FdV
S V
 
We get
 dV      V  dV  0
V
t V

  
  t     V  dV  0
Or
V
 
We get     V   0
t
The above equation is called the PDE form of the continuity equation
PDE : partial differential equation.