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EQUATIONS
quicksheets
Gradient, Divergence, and Curl
Gradient
The gradient of a scalar-valued function
x0
f ( x) = f x1
x
2
is defined by
f ( x)
x0
x f ( x) = f ( x)
x1
f ( x )
x2
You can compute the gradient using the Mathcad gradient operator. For
example, suppose you define the following scalar-valued function:
f ( x) := ( x0) 2 x1 ( x2) 3
x f ( x)
Finally, type [Ctrl] [.] to insert the symbolic equal sign and press [Enter].
2 x0 x1 ( x2) 3
x f ( x) ( x0) 2 ( x2) 3
3 x 2 x x 2
( 0) 1 ( 2)
1
x := 3
1
6
x f ( x) = 1
9
Divergence
d d d
div ( A , x , y , z) := A ( x , y , z) 0 + A ( x , y , z) 1 + A ( x , y , z) 2
dx dy dz
This can also be written as
div = A
where =
d d d
is the "del" operator.
dx dy dz
xz
A( x , y , z) := y2
2
2x y
you can evaluate the divergence symbolically by:
div ( A , x , y , z) z 2 y
div ( A , 1 , 1 , 1) = 1
Curl
The curl of a vector-valued function A is defined by
d
A ( x , y , z) 2 d A ( x , y , z) 1
dy dz
d d
curl ( A , x , y , z) := A( x , y , z) 0 A( x , y , z) 2
dz dx
d d
dx A ( x , y , z ) 1 dy A ( x , y , z ) 0
curl = A
To symbolically evaluate the curl of the function A defined previously,
use the symbolic equal sign:
2 x2
curl ( A , x , y , z) x 4 x y
0
Or, you can define values for x, y, and z, and evaluate the curl
numerically:
2
curl ( A , 1 , 1 , 1) = 3
0
Here are some more examples:
f ( x , y , z) := x y z
2 3
B ( x , y , z) := f ( x , y , z) A( x , y , z)
x 3 y z 4
B ( x , y , z ) x 2 y3 z 3
2 x 4 y2 z 3
div ( B , x , y , z) 6 x 4 y2 z 2 3 x 2 y2 z 3 + 3 x 2 y z 4
4 x 4 y z 3 + 3 x 2 y3 z 2
curl ( B , x , y , z) 4 x 3 y z 3 8 x 3 y2 z 3
x 3 z 4 2 x y3 z 3