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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. It can not directly be used to calculate the flux through surfaces with boundaries, like those on the right.
As the name implies, the divergence is a (local) measure of the degree to which vectors in the field diverge. The divergence of a tensor field of non-zero order k is written as =, a contraction of a tensor field of order k − 1. Specifically, the divergence of a vector is a scalar.
This article uses the standard notation ISO 80000-2, which supersedes ISO 31-11, for spherical coordinates (other sources may reverse the definitions of θ and φ): . The polar angle is denoted by [,]: it is the angle between the z-axis and the radial vector connecting the origin to the point in question.
The divergence of a vector field is often illustrated using the simple example of the velocity field of a fluid, a liquid or gas. A moving gas has a velocity, a speed and direction at each point, which can be represented by a vector, so the velocity of the gas forms a vector field. If a gas is heated, it will expand.
Vector calculus or vector analysis is a branch of mathematics concerned with the differentiation and integration of vector fields, primarily in three-dimensional Euclidean space, . [1] The term vector calculus is sometimes used as a synonym for the broader subject of multivariable calculus, which spans vector calculus as well as partial differentiation and multiple integration.
This allows expressing the fundamental theorem of calculus, the divergence theorem, Green's theorem, and Stokes' theorem as special cases of a single general result, the generalized Stokes theorem. Differential 1 -forms are naturally dual to vector fields on a differentiable manifold , and the pairing between vector fields and 1 -forms is ...
This identity is derived from the divergence theorem applied to the vector field F = ψ ∇φ while using an extension of the product rule that ∇ ⋅ (ψ X) = ∇ψ ⋅X + ψ ∇⋅X: Let φ and ψ be scalar functions defined on some region U ⊂ R d, and suppose that φ is twice continuously differentiable, and ψ is once continuously differentiable.
It can be used to calculate directional derivatives of scalar functions or normal directions. Divergence gives a measure of how much "source" or "sink" near a point there is. It can be used to calculate flux by divergence theorem. Curl measures how much "rotation" a vector field has near a point.