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What Is The Physical Meaning of Divergence, Curl and Gradient of A Vector Field - Quora

The divergence, curl, and gradient of a vector field each have a distinct physical meaning: 1) Divergence measures the net flow of a fluid (or other quantity) out of a given point, with positive divergence indicating a "source" and negative a "sink". 2) Curl describes the rotation of a fluid, such as a whirlpool, with the direction of the curl indicating the direction of rotation. 3) Gradient points in the direction of steepest increase for a scalar field, such as elevation, and its magnitude indicates the steepness of increase in that direction.

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8K views4 pages

What Is The Physical Meaning of Divergence, Curl and Gradient of A Vector Field - Quora

The divergence, curl, and gradient of a vector field each have a distinct physical meaning: 1) Divergence measures the net flow of a fluid (or other quantity) out of a given point, with positive divergence indicating a "source" and negative a "sink". 2) Curl describes the rotation of a fluid, such as a whirlpool, with the direction of the curl indicating the direction of rotation. 3) Gradient points in the direction of steepest increase for a scalar field, such as elevation, and its magnitude indicates the steepness of increase in that direction.

Uploaded by

Raj Vardhan Patel
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12/10/2015

Whatisthephysicalmeaningofdivergence,curlandgradientofavectorfield?Quora
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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?
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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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