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CEE 451G ENVIRONMENTAL FLUID MECHANICS

LECTURE 1: SCALARS, VECTORS AND TENSORS
A scalar has magnitude but no direction.
An example is pressure p.
The coordinates x, y and z of Cartesian space are scalars.
A vector has both magnitude and direction
Let denote unit vectors in the x, y and z direction. The hat
denotes a magnitude of unity

The position vector (the arrow denotes a vector that is not a unit
vector) is given as
k

, j

, i

z j

y i

x x + + =

x
y
z
i

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LECTURE 1: SCALARS, VECTORS AND TENSORS
The velocity vector is given as
The acceleration vector is given as



The units that we will use in class are length L, time T, mass M and
temperature . The units of a parameter are denoted in brackets. Thus
u

dt
dz
j

dt
dy
i

dt
dx
dt
x d
u + + = =

dt
z d
j

dt
y d
i

dt
x d
dt
x d
k

dt
dw
j

dt
dv
i

dt
du
dt
u d
a
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
+ + = = + + = =

? ] a [
LT ] u [
L ] x [
1
=
=
=

Newtons second law is a vectorial statement: where denotes the

force vector and m denotes the mass (which is a scalar)
a m F

=
F

2
LT

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LECTURE 1: SCALARS, VECTORS AND TENSORS
The components of the force vector can be written as follows:
The dimensions of the force vector are the dimension of mass times
the dimension acceleration



Pressure p, which is a scalar, has dimensions of force per unit area.
The dimensions of pressure are thus
k

F j

F i

F F
z y x
+ + =

2 1 2 2
T ML ) L /( MLT ] p [

= =
The acceleration of gravity g is a scalar with the dimensions of (of
course) acceleration:
2
x
MLT ] F [ ] F [

= =

2
LT ] g [

=
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LECTURE 1: SCALARS, VECTORS AND TENSORS
A scalar can be a function of a vector, a vector of a scalar, etc. For
example, in fluid flows pressure and velocity are both functions of
position and time:
) t , x ( u u , ) t , x ( p p

= =
A scalar is a zero-order tensor. A vector is a first-order tensor. A
matrix is a second order tensor. For example, consider the stress
tensor t.
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.
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\
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t t t
t t t
t t t
=
zz zy zx
yz yy yx
xz xy xx
t
The stress tensor has 9 components. What do they mean? Use the
following mnemonic device: first face, second stress
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LECTURE 1: SCALARS, VECTORS AND TENSORS
Consider the volume element below.
x
y
z
Each of the six faces has a direction.
For example, this face
and this face
are normal to the y direction

A force acting on any face can act in the x, y and z directions.
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x
y
z
t
yy
t
yz

LECTURE 1: SCALARS, VECTORS AND TENSORS
Consider the face below.
The face is in the direction y.
t
yx

The force per unit face area acting in the x direction on that face is the
stress t
yx
(first face, second stress).
The forces per unit face area acting in the y and z directions on that
face are the stresses t
yy
and t
yz
.
Here t
yy
is a normal stress (acts normal, or perpendicular to the face)
and t
yx
and t
yz
are shear stresses (act parallel to the face)
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x
y
z
t
yy
t
yz

LECTURE 1: SCALARS, VECTORS AND TENSORS
Some conventions are in order
Normal stresses are defined to be positive outward, so the orientation
is reversed on the face located Ay from the origin
t
yx

Shear stresses similarly reverse sign on the opposite face face are the
stresses t
yy
and t
yz
.
t
yy

t
yz

t
yx

Thus a positive normal stress puts a body in tension, and a negative
normal stress puts the body in compression. Shear stresses always put
the body in shear.`
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Another way to write a vector is in Cartesian form:
) z , y , x ( k

z j

y i

x x = + + =

The coordinates x, y and z can also be written as x

1
, x
2
, x
3
. Thus the
vector can be written as
) x , x , x ( x
3 2 1
=

or as
3 .. 1 i , ) x ( x
i
= =

or in index notation, simply as

i
x x =

where i is understood to be a dummy variable running from 1 to 3.

Thus x
i
, x
j
and x
p
all refer to the same vector (x
1
, x
2
and x
3
) , as the
index (subscript) always runs from 1 to 3.
LECTURE 1: SCALARS, VECTORS AND TENSORS
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LECTURE 1: SCALARS, VECTORS AND TENSORS
Scalar multiplication: let o be a scalar and = A
i
be a vector.
Then
A

) A , A , A ( A A
3 2 i i
o o o = o = o

is a vector.
Dot or scalar product of two vectors results in a scalar:
scalar B A B A B A B A
3 3 2 2 1 1
= + + = -

In index notation, the dot product takes the form

= = =
= = = = -
3
1 r
r r
3
1 k
k k
3
1 i
i i
B A B A B A B A

Einstein summation convention: if the same index occurs twice, always
sum over that index. So we abbreviate to
r r k k i i
B A B A B A B A = = = -

There is no free index in the above expressions. Instead the indices are
paired (e.g. two is), implying summation. The result of the dot product
is thus a scalar.
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LECTURE 1: SCALARS, VECTORS AND TENSORS
Magnitude of a vector:
i i
2
A A A A A = - =

A tensor can be constructed by multiplying two vectors (not scalar
product):
|
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|
.
|

\
|
= = = =
3 3 3 2 3 1
3 3 2 2 2 1
1 3 1 2 1 1
j i j i
B A B A B A
B A B A B A
B A B A B A
3 .. 1 j , 3 .. 1 i , ) B A ( B A
Two free indices (i, j) means the result is a second-order tensor
Now consider the expression
j j i
B A A
This is a first-order tensor, or vector because there is only one free
index, i (the js are paired, implying summation).
) A , A , A )( B A B A B A ( B A A
3 2 1 2 3 2 2 1 1 j j i
+ + =
That is, scalar times vector = vector.
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LECTURE 1: SCALARS, VECTORS AND TENSORS
Kronecker delta o
ij

|
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|
.
|

\
|
=

=
=
= o
1 0 0
0 1 0
0 0 1
j i if 0
j i if 1
ij
Since there are two free indices, the result is a second-order tensor, or
matrix. The Kronecker delta corresponds to the identity matrix.
Third-order Levi-Civita tensor.

= c
0
k , j , i if 1
k , j , i if 1
ijl
cycle clockwise: 1,2,3, 2,3,1 or 3,1,2
cycle counterclockwise: 1,3,2, 3,2,2 or 2,1,3
otherwise
Vectorial cross product:
k j ijk
B A B x A c =

One free index, so the result must be a vector.
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LECTURE 1: SCALARS, VECTORS AND TENSORS
Vectorial cross product: Let be given as
B x A C

=
Then
C

=
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\
|

|
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\
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.
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\
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= =
|
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.
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\
|
=
2
2
1
1
3 2 1
3 2 1
2
2
1
1
3 2 1
3 2 1
3 2 1
3 2 1
3 2 1
3 2 1
B
A
j

B
A
i

B B B
A A A
k

B
A
j

B
A
i

B B B
A A A
k

B B B
A A A
k

B B B
A A A
k

det C

( ) ( ) ( )k

B A B A j

B A B A i

B A B A
1 2 2 1 3 1 1 3 2 3 3 2
+ +
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LECTURE 1: SCALARS, VECTORS AND TENSORS
Vectorial cross product in tensor notation:
k j ijk i
B A C c =
Thus for example
+ c + c + c = c =
1 1 111 2 3 132 3 2 123 k j jk 1 1
B A B A B A B A C
= 1 = -1 = 0
a lot of other terms that
all = 0
2 3 3 2
B A B A =
i.e. the same result as the other slide. The same results are also
obtained for C
2
and C
3
.
The nabla vector operator :
3 2 1
x
k

x
j

x
i

c
c
+
c
c
+
c
c
= V

or in index notation
V

i
x c
c
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LECTURE 1: SCALARS, VECTORS AND TENSORS
The gradient converts a scalar to a vector. For example, where p is
pressure,
k

x
p
j

x
p
i

x
p
p ) p ( grad
3 2 1
c
c
+
c
c
+
c
c
= V =

or in index notation
i
x
p
) p ( grad
c
c
=
The single free index i (free in that it is not paired with another i) in the
above expression means that grad(p) is a vector.

The divergence converts a vector into a scalar. For example, where
is the velocity vector,
k
k
i
i
3
3
2
2
1
1
x
u
x
u
x
u
x
u
x
u
) u ( div
c
c
=
c
c
=
c
c
+
c
c
+
c
c
=

Note that there is no free index (two is or two ks), so the result is a
scalar.
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LECTURE 1: SCALARS, VECTORS AND TENSORS
The curl converts a vector to a vector. For example, where is the
velocity vector,
u

x
u
x
u
j

x
u
x
u
i

x
u
x
u
u u u
x x x
k

u x ) u ( curl
2
1
1
2
1
3
3
1
3
2
2
3
3 2 1
3 2 1
|
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.
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\
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c
c

c
c
+
|
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.
|

\
|
c
c

c
c
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c

c
c
=
c
c
c
c
c
c
= V =

or in index notation,
j
k
ijk
x
u
) u ( curl
c
c
c =

One free index i (the js and the ks are paired) means that the result is a
vector
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A useful manipulation in tensor notation can be used to change an index
in an expression:
i j ij
u u = o
This manipulation works because the Kronecker delta o
ij
= 0 except when
i = j, in which case it equals 1.
LECTURE 1: SCALARS, VECTORS AND TENSORS