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Physics
Whatisthephysicalmeaningofdivergence,curland
gradientofavectorfield?
8Answers
IsDivergenceoperationalsodefinedforsingle
variablevectorfunctions?
Whatisthephysicalmeaningofthevolumeintegral
ofthedivergenceofaheatvectorfieldhovera
volumeV?
Whatisphysicalmeaningofgradient?
ErikAnson,Physics/CosmologyPh.D.student
11.6kViewsUpvotedbyBrentFollin,PhDstudentinTheoreticalCosmology
Erikhas370+answersinPhysics.
Differentpeoplemayfinddifferentanalogies/visualizationshelpful,buthere'sone
possiblesetof"physicalmeanings".
Whatisgradientinphysics?
Whatisphysicalsignificanceofdivergence?
Whataresomevectorfunctionsthathavezero
divergenceandzerocurleverywhere?
Divergence:
Imagineafluid,withthevectorfieldrepresentingthevelocityofthefluidateachpointin
space.Divergencemeasuresthenetflowoffluidoutof(i.e.,divergingfrom)agivenpoint.
Iffluidisinsteadflowingintothatpoint,thedivergencewillbenegative.
What'saphysicalinterpretationofthecurlofa
vector?
Apointorregionwithpositivedivergenceisoftenreferredtoasa"source"(offluid,or
whateverthefieldisdescribing),whileapointorregionwithnegativedivergenceisa
"sink".
Whatisthedifferencebetweenacurl,divergenceand
agradientofafunction?Alongwiththeirphysical
significance.
Curl:
Let'sgobacktoourfluid,withthevectorfieldrepresentingfluidvelocity.Thecurl
measuresthedegreetowhichthefluidisrotatingaboutagivenpoint,withwhirlpoolsand
tornadoesbeingextremeexamples.
Whatisthedivergenceofavectorfield?HowcanI
provedivV=V.V?
Whatisthepracticalsignificanceofcurlofavector
field?
Imagineasmallchunkoffluid,smallenoughthatthecurlismoreorlessconstantwithin
it.Youarealsoshrunkdownverysmall,andaretoldthatyouneedtoswimalaparound
theperimeterofthatchunkoffluid.Doyouchoosetoswimaroundclockwise,or
counterclockwise?Ifthecurlofthevelocityiszero,thenitdoesn'tmatter.But,ifit's
nonzero,theninonedirectionyou'dbegoingmostlywiththecurrent,andintheother
directionyou'dbegoingmostlyagainstthecurrent,andsoyourchoiceofdirectionwould
matter.Thesignofthecurlwilltellyouwhichistherightchoice.
Gradient:
Whileit'sperfectlyvalidtotakethegradientofavectorfield,theresultisarank2tensor
(likeamatrix),andsoit'shardertoexplaininintuitiveterms(althoughperhapssomeone
elsewillmanageit).So,instead,I'lltalkaboutthegradientofascalarfield:specifically,
thefieldthatgivestheelevationofthegroundabovesealevelatagivenpointontheEarth
(specified,say,intermsoflatitudeandlongitude).
Inthatsituation,thegradientisactuallyfairlysimple:itpoints"uphill"(inthesteepest
direction),andthemagnitudetellsyouhowsteepthatis.Forexample,ifthegradient
pointsnortheastwithamagnitudeof0.2,thenthedirectionofsteepestclimbisnortheast,
andeverymeteryoutravelnortheastwillresultin0.2metersofelevationgain.
Forthegradientofavectorfield,youcanthinkofitasthegradientofeachcomponentof
thatvectorfieldindividually,eachofwhichisascalar.
WrittenMay19ViewUpvotes
MoreAnswersBelow.RelatedQuestions
IsDivergenceoperationalsodefinedforsinglevariablevectorfunctions?
Whatisthephysicalmeaningofthevolumeintegralofthedivergenceofaheatvectorfieldh
overavolumeV?
https://www.quora.com/Whatisthephysicalmeaningofdivergencecurlandgradientofavectorfield
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Whatisthephysicalmeaningofdivergence,curlandgradientofavectorfield?Quora
Whatisphysicalmeaningofgradient?
Whatisgradientinphysics?
Whatisphysicalsignificanceofdivergence?
DahlWinters,R&Dscientistandproblemsolver
2.6kViews
Asvectorfieldsarefundamentaltofluidmechanics,Ifindthatwateryieldswonderful
physicalexamplesoftheseoperatorsinaction.
Divergence:Turnonafaucetandwatchthewaterflowoutwardasithitsthesink.The
fluxofwaterisdivergingawayfromasource.Divergenceisthedensityofthatfluxasit
spreadsoutfromthatpoint.Whenthewatertravelsdownthedrainitconverges,whichis
negativedivergence.
Curl:Whenthewatergoesdownthedrain,youmightseeitswirlinginrotation.Thecurl
ofthevelocityfielddescribesthelocalrotationofthatfluid,whichdefinesitsvorticity.
Gradient:Ifyouturnedonthehotwaterfaucetsoityieldedastreamintothesinkofcold
water,thegradientwillpointalongthestream.Thegradientalwayspointsinthedirection
ofthemaximumrateofchangeinafield.
WrittenMay19ViewUpvotes
RohitRaju,Student,was,isandperhapswillbe
2.2kViews
AlmostalltextbooksdoagoodjobofdefiningwhatthesetermsmeanfromaFluid
Dynamicsperspective.IfIcouldexplainit,sansthemath,fromwhatIunderstood:
Divergence:ofavectorfield(velocity V )ofafluidelementrepresentsthemagnitudeof
therateofchangeofvolumeofthatelementforagivenmass.
Curl:Ifyoucanimaginearotatingfluid,usetherighthandtocurlyourfingersinthe
directionoftherotationofthefluid.Yourthumbwillgiveyouthedirectionofthecurl
vectorforthatflowfield.
Gradient:Thoughtakingthegradientofavectorisquitecommon,forexample(v) ,
physically,ifthegradofascalar(sayPressure,(P ) )istaken,theresultingvectorgives
youthedirectioninwhichthescalarpropertychangesitsmagnitudethemost.
ReferringtothetextswillalsodetailtheMath,whichisquiteessentialtounderstanding
thesepropertiesfromanapplicationfront.
UpdatedJul27ViewUpvotes
AriRoyce,Icount1+1=2.
2.8kViewsArihas40+answersinPhysics.
ErikAnsonhasgivenagoodanswer.Ijustwanttoadditwithsomethingsimpler.
1.Imagineachargedparticle,ithaselectricalfieldalloverit.Thedivergenceofthis
electricalfieldisthechargedparticleitself.
2.Nowmovethatchargedparticle,thenitwouldgeneratemagneticfield.Curlisthe
magneticfieldgeneratedbythatmovingparticle.
3.Gradientofavectorfieldiscomplicated,solet'susethegradientofascalarfield
instead.Ifwewanttobringanotherchargedparticlearoundanexistingchargedparticle,
wegonnaneedsomeenergy.Thegradientofthisenergyistheelectricalfieldofthat
existingchargedparticle.
UpdatedMay22ViewUpvotes
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Whatisthephysicalmeaningofdivergence,curlandgradientofavectorfield?Quora
AhmadHesham,Studyingphysicsonmyown.
930Views
Inwords
Gradient:isavectorhencewecanfullyidentifyitusingtwopiecesofinformation:A
Direction:itpointsinthedirectionofthebiggestincreaseinthefunction.
BMagnitude:itsmagnitudedeterminestheslope(thederivative)ofthat
direction.
Divergence:itwasinventedbyMaxwell,heneededaquantitythatdeterminestherate
oftheflowofElectricfieldtowardsanegativecharge(atfirstitwasnamedconvergence
butthenOlivernameditDivergence).
itisascalarquantity,ifitispositivethenitisasource(vectorsflowoutofitor"diverge"),
ifnegativeitisasink(vectorsflowin).
Curl:itdetermineshowmuchavectorfieldtwists(curls)atspecificpoint,ifintheocean
andthecurlpointsdownwardandyou'reonashipthisdayisn'tthenyourluckyday.
WrittenOct6AskedtoanswerbyMohammedDaoudi
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