Math Insight

Finding a potential function for three-dimensional conservative vector

fields
In this page, we give an example of finding a potential function of a three-dimensional conservative vector field. This
procedure is an extension of the procedure of finding the potential function of a two-dimensional field .

The vector field we'll analyze is

3 xy 2 3 xy 2 2
F(x, y, z) = (2xyz + ye ,x z + xe , 3x y z + cos z).

We first check if it is conservative by calculating its curl, which in terms of the components of F, is

F3 F2 F1 F3 F2 F1
curl F = ( , , ).
y z z x x y

Since

F3 F2
2 2
= = 3x z
y z

F1 F3
2
= = 6xyz
z x

F2 F1
3 xy
= = 2xz + (1 + xy)e ,
x y

the curl of F is zero. The vector field is defined in all R , which is simply connected, so F is conservative.
3

We need to find a potential function f (x, y, z) that satisfies f = F , i.e., the three conditions

f
3 xy
(x, y, z) = 2xyz + ye
x

f
2 3 xy
(x, y, z) = x z + xe
y

f
2 2
(x, y, z) = 3x yz + cos z.
z

f
We start with the first condition involving . We integrate with respect to x, viewing y and z as constants, to obtain that
x

f (x, y, z) must satisfy

2 3 xy
f (x, y, z) = x yz +e + g(y, z).

Since we viewed y and z as constants, the constant of integration g(y, z) can be an arbitrary function of y and z. You can
verify that f (x, y, z) does satisfy the first condition.

Now, we simply need to determine what g(y, z) must be for f to satisfy the remaining two conditions involving derivatives
with respect to y and z. Let's differentiate our new expression for f with respect to y , obtaining
 f g
2 3 xy
(x, y, z) = x z + xe + (y, z)
y y

f
We need to f to satisfy the second condition, above, involving . For this to be true, we require
y

g
(y, z) = 0.
y

g
Since F is conservative, this equation for must be a function of y and z alone (and not involve x). If x appeared, we
y

would know we had made a mistake somewhere. Since x is absent, we can keep going.

g
In this case, since we need (y, z) = 0 , we conclude that g(y, z) cannot depend on y . It must be a function of z alone,
y

which we'll call h(z). Our expression for f (x, y, z) simplifies to

2 3 xy
f (x, y, z) = x yz +e + h(z)

f
We have one more condition to satisfy, the one involving . We differentiate our new expression for f with respect to z:
z

f dh
2 2
= 3x y z + (z).
z dz

For f (x, y, z) to satisfy the third condition for f , the function h(z) must satisfy

dh
(z) = cos z.
dz

This is good news, as dh

does not depend on x or y . If it had, we would know something went wrong
dz

We can easily integrate to obtain an expression for h,

h(z) = sin z + k

for an arbitrary constant k. A potential function can only be determined up to an arbitrary constant, since we only have
conditions on its derivatives. But, line integrals of F depend only on differences among the values of f (x, y, z) . The constant
k will always cancel out, so we can just set k = 0 .

Therefore, our potential function for

3 xy 2 3 xy 2 2
F(x, y, z) = (2xyz + ye ,x z + xe , 3x y z + cos z).

is

2 3 xy
f (x, y, z) = x yz +e + sin z.

For any curve C from point p to point q, the integral of F is

F ds = f (q) f (p)
C

independent of the path taken by C . Although we had to do a lot of work to calculate f , the last step of computing the
integral is simple.

If C is the arc of a helix parametrized by c(t) = (cos t, sin t, t) for 0 t /2 , the line integral of F is simply
 F ds = f (c(/2)) f (c(0))
C

= f (0, 1, /2) f (1, 0, 0)

0 0
= 0+e + sin 0e sin 0 = 1 + 1 1 = 1.
2

See also
The gradient theorem for line integrals
How to determine if a vector field is conservative
Finding a potential function for conservative vector fields
Testing if three-dimensional vector fields are conservative

Lighten up
An introduction to conservative vector fields

Cite this as

Nykamp DQ, Finding a potential function for three-dimensional conservative vector fields. From Math Insight.
http://mathinsight.org/conservative_vector_field_find_potential_3d

Keywords: conservative, gradient theorem, path independent, potential function

Finding a potential function for three-dimensional conservative vector fields by Duane Q. Nykamp is licensed under a
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