MSG 322 FLUID MECHANICS

NOTE 1
REVIEW OF BASIC CONCEPTS FROM VECTOR DIFFERENTIATION AND
VECTOR INTEGRATION

Scalar
a quantity such as mass, length, time or temperature that is completely specified by its
magnitude and has no direction.
Vectors
an abstraction of physical concepts like displacement and force, which have magnitude and
direction, and are additive.
Vector field
a function of spatial position whose values are vectors.
Cartesian coordinates
in 3D, we commonly use right-handed Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z).
we write i, j, k for unit vectors along x, y, z directions respectively, as shown in the following
figure.

Dot product
this is defined through
i i = j j = k k = 1
i j = 0, etc.
Cross product
this is defined through

i j = j i = k,

j k = k j = i,

k i = i k = j

Del operator
the vector differential operator (del, also called nabla) is defined by
= i

+ j
+ k
x
y
z

Gradient
let (x, y, z) be a scalar point function defined at each point (x, y, z) in a certain region.
Then the gradient of is written as or grad and is defined by



+j
+k
+j
+k
= i
= i
x
y
z
x
y
z
is normal to the surface .
Directional derivative
the component of in the direction of a unit vector ~a is given by ~a and is called the
directional derivative of in the direction of ~a.
physically, this is the rate of change of at (x, y, z) in the direction of ~a.
Divergence
~ = V1i + V2 j + V3 k be a vector point function of x, y, z. Then, the divergence of V
~,
let V
~ or V
~ is defined by
written as divV

 


i
V =
+j
+k
V1i + V2 j + V3 k
x
y
z
=

V1
V2
V3
+
+
x
y
z

Curl
~ = V1i + V2 j + V3 k be a vector point function of x, y, z. Then, the curl of V
~ or rotation
let V
~ , written as curlV
~ or V
~ is defined by
of V


 i
j
k 








~

V = 

 x y z 




 V1 V2 V3 






V3
V2
V1
V3
V2
V1

+ j

+ k

= i
y
z
z
x
x
y

Examples
1. If (x, y, z) = 3x2 y y 3 z 2 , find at (1,-2,-1).

2. Find a unit normal to the surface x2 y + 2xz = 4 at the point (2,-2,3).

3. Find the directional derivative of = x2 yz + 4xz 2 at (1,-2,-1) in the direction of 2i j 2k.

find A
~ = x2 zi 2y 3 z 2 j + xy 2 z k,
~ at the point (1,-1,1).
4. If A

 find A
~ at the point (1,-1,1).
~ = xz 3i 2x2 yzj + 2yz 4 k,
5. If A

Solenoidal vector field

~ is called solenoidal if divA
~ = 0.
a vector field A
Example
~ = (x + 3y)i + (y 2z)j + (x + bz)k is solenoidal.
1. Determine the constant b so that the vector V

Irrotational vector field

~ is called irrotational if curlA
~ = 0.
a vector field A
Example
~ = (x + 2y + az)i + (bx 3y z)j + (4x +
1. Find the constants a, b and c so that the vector V
cy + 2z)k is irrotational.

Some important formulae involving

1. ( + ) = + ,if and are scalars
~ and B
~ are vectors and is a scalar, then
2. If A
~ + B)
~ =A
~+B
~
(A
~ + B)
~ =A
~+B
~
(A
~ = ( A)
~ + A
~
(A)
~ = ( A)
~ + A
~
(A)
~ B)
~ =B
~ ( A)
~ A
~ ( B)
~
(A
~ B)
~ = (B
~ )A
~ B(
~
~ (A
~ )B
~ + A(
~
~
(A
A)
B)
~ B)
~ = (B
~ )A
~ + (A
~ )B
~ +B
~ ( A)
~ +A
~ ( B)
~
(A
2 2 2
+
+
x2
y 2
z 2
= 0 ie curl(grad)= 0
~ = 0 ie div(curlA)=
~
( A)
0
2
~ = ( A)
~ A
~
( A)
= 2 =

Line Integral
where ~r(u) is the position vector of (x, y, z).
let ~r(u) = x(u)i + y(u)j + z(u)k,
define a curve C joining the points P1 and P2 .
~ y, z) = A1i + A2 j + A3 k be a vector function defined and continuous along C.
let A(x,
~ along C from P1 to P2 written as
then the integral of the tangential component of A
Z

P2

~ d~r =
A

P1

~ d~r =
A

Z
A1 dx + A2 dy + A3 dz
C

is called as a line integral.

~ is the force F~ on a particle moving along C, then this line integral represents the work
if A
done by the force.
if C is a simple closed curve, then the line integral around C is denoted by
I
I
~
A d~r = A1 dx + A2 dy + A3 dz
~ about C, where A
~ represents
in fluid mechanics, this line integral is called the circulation of A
the velocity of a fluid.
~ = (curlA
~ = 0), then
if A
Z

P2

~ d~r
A

P1

is independent of the path C joining P1 and P2 .

P(x,y,z)
S

Surface Integral
let S be a two-sided surface and one side of this is taken as the positive side.
a unit normal n
to any point of the positive side of S is called a positive or outward drawn
unit normal.
~ be a vector point function.
let A
~n
~
A
is the normal component of vector A.
~ over the surfaces is called the surface
the double integral of the normal component of A
~ over S or flux of A
~ over S.
integral of A
Z Z
Z Z
~ dS
~=
~n
A
A
dS
S

~ over S.
is the surface integral of A
7

Volume Integral
consider a closed surface in space enclosing a volume V .
then

Z Z Z

~
AdV

~ over the volume V .

is called the volume integral of A
Examples
evaluate
1. If A = (3x2 + 6y)i 14yzj + 20xz 2 k,
Z
~ d~r
A
C

from (0,0,0) to (1,1,1) along the path C given by x = t, y = t2 and z = t3 .

2. (i) Show that F~ = (2xy + z 3 )i + x2 j + 3xz 2 k is a conservative force field.

(ii) Find the scalar point function.
(iii) Find the work done in moving an object in this field from (1,-2,1) to (3,1,4).

Gauss Divergence Theorem

~ is a vector point function with
if V is the volume bounded by a closed surface S and A
continuous derivatives, then
Z Z Z
Z Z
~ dV =
~n
A
A
dS
S

Example
~ = 4xzi y 2 j + yz k taken over the
1. Verify Gauss Divergence theorem for the vector field A
region bounded by the cube x = 0, y = 0, z = 0, x = 1, y = 1, z = 1.

Stokess Theorem
~ has
if S is an open, two-sided surface bounded by a closed, non-intersecting curve C and A
continuous derivatives, then
I
Z Z
~
~n
A d~r =
A
dS
C

where C is traversed in the positive direction.

Example
~ = (2x y)i yz 2 j y 2 z k where S is the upper half surface of
1. Verify Stokess theorem for A
2
2
2
the sphere x + y + z = 1 and C is its boundary.

10

Greens Theorem in the plane

if R is a closed region of the xy plane bounded by a simple closed curve C and if M and N
are continuous functions of x and y having continuous derivatives in R, then

I
Z Z 
N
M
M dx + N dy =

dx dy
x
y
R
C

where C is traversed in the positive direction.

Example
1. Verify Greens theorem in the plane for
I
(xy + y 2 )dx + x2 dy
C

where C is the closed curve of the region bounded by y = x and y = x2 .

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