Math 53 Worksheet Solutions - Flux and Divergence

1. Is there a vector eld G on R

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such that
curl G = x sin y, cos y, z xy?
Explain.
Solution. No. For any dierentiable vector eld F, we have
div(curl(F)) = 0.
However,
div(x sin y, cos y, z xy) = 1.
(Check this.) As a result, the stated vector eld cannot be the curl of a vector eld G.
2. Show that any vector eld of the form
F(x, y, z) = f(x)i + g(y)j + h(z)k,
where f, g, and h are dierentiable is irrotational.
Solution. We must show curl(F) = 0. Calculate the curl of F and observe that f
does not depend on y or z, g does not depend on x or z, and h does not depend on x
or y. As a result, the curl is zero.
3. Show that any vector eld of the form
F(x, y, z) = f(y, z)i + g(x, z)j + h(x, y)k,
is incompressible.
Solution. We must show div(F) = 0. Note that
div(F) =

x
f(y, z) +

y
g(x, z) +

z
h(x, y) = 0,
since derivatives are being taken with respect to variables on which the respective
functions do not depend.
4. Prove the following identities, assuming that f is a scalar eld and F is a vector eld.
(a) div(fF) = f div F +F f
(b) curl(fF) = f curl F + (f) F
(c) div(f g) = 0
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Solution. We will show (a). The others follow similarly. Note that
fF = fF
1
, fF
2
, fF
3
,
where F = F
1
, F
2
, F
3
. Then
div(fF) =

x
(fF
1
) +

y
(fF
2
) +

z
(fF
3
)
= (f
x
F
1
+ f
y
F
2
+ f
z
F
3
) + (f(F
1
)
x
+ f(F
2
)
y
+ f(F
3
)
z
)
= f F + f(div(F)),
where we have simply used the product rule and grouped terms.
5. If F = r/r
p
, nd div F. Is there a value of p for which div F = 0?
Solution. Note that
F =
1
r
p
x, y, z.
As such,
F
1
x
=

x
x
r
p
=
1
r
p

px
2
r
p+2
,
and similarly
F
2
y
=
1
r
p

py
2
r
p+2
,
F
3
z
=
1
r
p

pz
2
r
p+2
.
Putting it together,
div(F) =
3
r
p

p
r
p+2
(x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
) =
3 p
r
p
,
so the divergence is zero if p = 3. Note that in these calculations we used that
r
x
=
x
r
, r
y
=
y
r
, r
z
=
z
r
,
which we calculated in a previous homework.
6. Find a parametric representation for the part of the plane z = x + 3 that lies inside
the cylinder x
2
+ y
2
= 1.
Solution. This is just a graph in cylindrical coordinates. We have z = r cos + 3, so
a good parametrization is
r(r, ) = r cos , r sin , r cos + 3.
Here 0 r 1 and 0 2.
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7. Find an equation of the tangent plane to the parametric surface
r(u, v) = uv, usin v, v cos u,
at the point u = 0, v = .
Solution. We simply follow the formula. Note that
r
u
(u, v) = v, sin v, v sin u, r
v
(u, v) = u, ucos v, cos u.
And so
r
u
(0, ) = , 0, 0, r
v
(0, ) = 0, 0, 1.
Then a suitable normal vector is
n = r
u
r
v
= 0, , 0.
The point on the surface at (u, v) = (0, ) is
r(0, ) = 0, 0, ,
so using the equation of a plane n (r r
0
) = 0, the equation is
0, , 0 (x, y, z 0, 0, ) = 0,
or
(y 0) = 0,
or
y = 0.
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