Surface integral

1 Surface integrals of scalar elds

In mathematics, a surface integral is a generalization of

multiple integrals to integration over surfaces. It can be
thought of as the double integral analog of the line integral. Given a surface, one may integrate over its scalar
elds (that is, functions which return scalars as values),
and vector elds (that is, functions which return vectors
as values).

To nd an explicit formula for the surface integral, we

need to parameterize the surface of interest, S, by considering a system of curvilinear coordinates on S, like the
latitude and longitude on a sphere. Let such a parameterization be x(s, t), where (s, t) varies in some region T in
Surface integrals have applications in physics, particularly the plane. Then, the surface integral is given by
with the classical theory of electromagnetism.

x x

ds dt
f dS =
f (x(s, t))

s
t
S
T
where the expression between bars on the right-hand side
is the magnitude of the cross product of the partial derivatives of x(s, t), and is known as the surface element.
For example, if we want to nd the surface area of some
general scalar function, say z = f (x, y) , we have

dS =

A=
S

r
r

dx dy

y
T x

where r = (x, y, z) = (x, y, f (x, y)) . So that

r
(1, 0, fx (x, y)) , and y
= (0, 1, fy (x, y)) . So,

The denition of surface integral relies on splitting the surface

into small surface elements.

r
x

) (
)
(


1, 0, f 0, 1, f dx dy

x
y
T
)
(


f , f , 1 dx dy
=


x
y
T
( )
( )2

2
f
f
+
+ 1 dx dy
=
x
y
T

A=

which is the familiar formula we get for the surface area

of a general functional shape. One can recognize the vector in the second line above as the normal vector to the
surface.

S
0

Note that because of the presence of the cross product,

the above formulas only work for surfaces embedded in
three-dimensional space.
This can be seen as integrating a Riemannian volume
form on the parameterized surface, where the metric tensor is given by the rst fundamental form of the surface.

2 Surface integrals of vector elds

An illustration of a single surface element. These elements are

made innitesimally small, by the limiting process, so as to approximate the surface.

Consider a vector eld v on S, that is, for each x in S, v(x)

is a vector.
1

THEOREMS INVOLVING SURFACE INTEGRALS

3 Surface integrals of dierential

2-forms
Let

f = fz dx dy + fx dy dz + fy dz dx
be a dierential 2-form dened on the surface S, and let
A vector eld on a surface

x(s, t) = (x(s, t), y(s, t), z(s, t))

The surface integral can be dened component-wise ac- be an orientation preserving parametrization of S with
cording to the denition of the surface integral of a scalar (s, t) in D. Changing coordinates from (x, y) to (s, t) ,
eld; the result is a vector. This applies for example in the the dierential forms transform as
expression of the electric eld at some xed point due
to an electrically charged surface, or the gravity at some
xed point due to a sheet of material.
dx
dx
dx =
ds +
dt
Alternatively, if we integrate the normal component of
ds
dt
the vector eld, the result is a scalar. Imagine that we
have a uid owing through S, such that v(x) determines
dy
dy
the velocity of the uid at x. The ux is dened as the dy = ds ds + dt dt
quantity of uid owing through S per unit time.
(x,y)
(x,y)
This illustration implies that if the vector eld is tangent So dx dy transforms to (s,t) ds dt , where (s,t)
to S at each point, then the ux is zero, because the uid denotes the determinant of the Jacobian of the transition
just ows in parallel to S, and neither in nor out. This also function from (s, t) to (x, y) . The transformation of the
implies that if v does not just ow along S, that is, if v has other forms are similar.

both a tangential and a normal component, then only the Then, the surface integral of f on S is given by
normal component contributes to the ux. Based on this
reasoning, to nd the ux, we need to take the dot product
]
of v with the unit surface normal to S at each point, which [
(x, y)
(y, z)
(z, x)
fz (x(s, t))
+ fx (x(s, t))
+ fy (x(s, t))
ds d
will give us a scalar eld, and integrate the obtained eld
(s, t)
(s, t)
(s, t)
D
as above. We nd the formula
where

vdS =

vn dS =
S

v(x(s, t))
T

x x

s
t

x x
ds dt.
=
s
t

(y, z) (z, x) (x, y)

,
,
(s, t) (s, t) (s, t)

is the surface element normal to S.

The cross product on the right-hand side of this expres- Let us note that the surface integral of this 2-form is the
sion is a surface normal determined by the parametriza- same as the surface integral of the vector eld which has
tion.
as components fx , fy and fz .
This formula denes the integral on the left (note the dot
and the vector notation for the surface element).
We may also interpret this as a special case of integrating
2-forms, where we identify the vector eld with a 1-form,
and then integrate its Hodge dual over the surface. This
is equivalent to integrating v, n dS over the immersed
surface, where dS is the induced volume form on the surface, obtained by interior multiplication of the Riemannian metric of the ambient space with the outward normal
of the surface.

4 Theorems involving surface integrals

Various useful results for surface integrals can be derived
using dierential geometry and vector calculus, such as
the divergence theorem, and its generalization, Stokes
theorem.

Advanced issues

6 See also
Divergence theorem
Stokes theorem
Line integral

Let us notice that we dened the surface integral by using

a parametrization of the surface S. We know that a given
surface might have several parametrizations. For example, if we move the locations of the North Pole and South
Pole on a sphere, the latitude and longitude change for
all the points on the sphere. A natural question is then
whether the denition of the surface integral depends on
the chosen parametrization. For integrals of scalar elds,
the answer to this question is simple, the value of the surface integral will be the same no matter what parametrization one uses.
For integrals of vector elds things are more complicated, because the surface normal is involved. It can be
proven that given two parametrizations of the same surface, whose surface normals point in the same direction,
one obtains the same value for the surface integral with
both parametrizations. If, however, the normals for these
parametrizations point in opposite directions, the value
of the surface integral obtained using one parametrization is the negative of the one obtained via the other
parametrization. It follows that given a surface, we do not
need to stick to any unique parametrization; but, when integrating vector elds, we do need to decide in advance
which direction the normal will point to and then choose
any parametrization consistent with that direction.
Another issue is that sometimes surfaces do not have
parametrizations which cover the whole surface; this is
true for example for the surface of a cylinder (of nite
height). The obvious solution is then to split that surface in several pieces, calculate the surface integral on
each piece, and then add them all up. This is indeed how
things work, but when integrating vector elds one needs
to again be careful how to choose the normal-pointing
vector for each piece of the surface, so that when the
pieces are put back together, the results are consistent.
For the cylinder, this means that if we decide that for the
side region the normal will point out of the body, then for
the top and bottom circular parts the normal must point
out of the body too.
Lastly, there are surfaces which do not admit a surface
normal at each point with consistent results (for example,
the Mbius strip). If such a surface is split into pieces, on
each piece a parametrization and corresponding surface
normal is chosen, and the pieces are put back together,
we will nd that the normal vectors coming from dierent pieces cannot be reconciled. This means that at some
junction between two pieces we will have normal vectors
pointing in opposite directions. Such a surface is called
non-orientable, and on this kind of surface one cannot
talk about integrating vector elds.

Volume element
Volume integral
Cartesian coordinate system
Volume and surface area elements in spherical coordinate systems
Volume and surface area elements in cylindrical coordinate systems
HolsteinHerring method

7 External links
Hazewinkel, Michiel, ed. (2001), Surface integral, Encyclopedia of Mathematics, Springer, ISBN
978-1-55608-010-4
Surface Integral from MathWorld
Surface Integral Theory and exercises

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