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Gradient

The document defines the gradient of a scalar field and provides examples of gradients in different coordinate systems. It then derives: 1) The gradient in spherical coordinates, showing that it has components in the r, θ, and φ directions. 2) The rates of change of the unit vectors r, θ, and φ with respect to the spherical coordinates, which are needed to express other vector operators like divergence and curl in spherical coordinates. 3) Exercises to derive the gradient in cylindrical coordinates and the derivatives of the cylindrical unit vectors.

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127 views3 pages

Gradient

The document defines the gradient of a scalar field and provides examples of gradients in different coordinate systems. It then derives: 1) The gradient in spherical coordinates, showing that it has components in the r, θ, and φ directions. 2) The rates of change of the unit vectors r, θ, and φ with respect to the spherical coordinates, which are needed to express other vector operators like divergence and curl in spherical coordinates. 3) Exercises to derive the gradient in cylindrical coordinates and the derivatives of the cylindrical unit vectors.

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monkey3237
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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c F.

Walee, Math 321, 2008/03/14

2.2+ Gradient extras


Geometric denition of gradient: Given a (suciently nice) scalar eld f (r), e.g. temperature as a function of position, its gradient f at point r is a vector pointing in the direction of greatest increase of f . The magnitude of f is the rate of change of f with distance in that direction. It follows that the gradient at a point is perpendicular to the isosurface of f that passes through that point.

Fundamental examples: (1) If f = f (r) where r = |r|, the scalar eld depends only on distance to the origin, then f is constant if r is constant, so the isosurfaces are spheres, f (r) is in the radial direction r and its magnitude is the rate of change in the radial direction df /dr so f (r) = df r. dr

(2) If f = f (|r r c |) so the scalar eld depends only on distance to point r c , then f is constant if |r r c | is constant, so the isosurfaces are spheres centered at r c and, letting r r c = s s with s = |r r c | f (s) = df df r r c s= . ds ds |r r c |

(3) If f = f (r c) where c is a xed vector, then f is constant if r c is constant, so the isosurfaces are planes perpendicular to c. Let s = r c = |c| where is distance in the c direction so df df c = c. f (r c) = d |c| ds In particular if c = x then r x = x and f (x) = x df /dx.

It also follows from the geometric denition that the dierential change df in the value of f when r changes by an arbitrary dierential dr is f dr
d
f f+

df = dr
df

(1)

That is because, locally, the isosurfaces are planes perpendicular to the gradient, so a displacement dr leads to a change in f in proportion to the component of the displacement in the direction of the gradient d = dr( f )/| f |. The change in f is df = d | f | = dr f . That general relationship (1) between df and dr allows us to obtain the expression for the f in various sets of coordinates, including non-cartesian coordinates.

c F. Walee, Math 321, 2008/03/14 Gradient in cartesian coordinates

The position vector reads r = x + y y + z z . Picking dr = x dx, dr = y dy and dr = z dz x in (1), respectively, gives r f = x x r f = y y f r = z z These three relationships imply f =x Gradient in spherical coordinates Here x = r sin cos , y = r sin sin , z = r cos , so r = r = r ( sin cos + y sin sin + z cos ), r x (6) f f f +y +z . x y z (5) f =x f =y f =z f, f, f. (2) (3) (4)

where r is the distance to the origin, is the polar angle (co-latitude) and is the azimuthal angle (longitude). In earlier sections on spherical coordinates and volume parametrizations, we discussed/derived r = r, r r = r , r = r sin . (7)

These results can be obtained via the hybrid cartesian/spherical expression (6) for r or directly from the geometry and understanding of partial derivatives (see (14, 15) below). Then, from (1) and (7), f r = r r f r = f r = f =r f = r f, f, f. (8) (9) (10)

f = r sin

Since r , and are orthonormal, these expressions imply that f =r f 1 f + 1 f . + r r r sin (11)

Note that the gradient in spherical coordinates is not That expression is not even dimensionally correct.

f = r f /r + f / + f /!

c F. Walee, Math 321, 2008/03/14

To derive the spherical coordinates expression for other operators such as divergence v, curl v and Laplacian 2 = , one needs to know the rate of change of the unit vectors r , and with the coordinates (r, , ). These vectors change with (r, , ) unlike the cartesian direction vectors x, y , z which are the same at every point. Since a partial with respect to r means the rate of change in a xed radial direction (, xed), it should be clear geometrically that r , and do not change with r r = = = 0. r r r (12)

To deduce the rates of change with respect to and , we could start from the hybrid expression (6) for r(r, , ) and crank it out, but a much faster, geometric approach is to use our knowledge of rotation: if a vector v rotates about then its governing equation is dv/dt = v where t is time. In dierential form, this is dv = dt v or dv = d v (13)

where d = || dt is the dierential angle of rotation during the time interval dt. The / derivatives correspond to innitesimal rotation in meridional planes since r and are xed. This is rotation by d about hence from (13), we obtain (14) r = r = , = = , r = = 0. (14)

Likewise / corresponds to innitesimal rotation about z by angle d, hence from (13), z r Exercises: 1. What is v in spherical coordinates where v = r u + v + w ? 2. Derive the gradient in cylindrical coordinates and the derivatives of the cylindrical direction vectors. z r = r = sin , z = = cos , z = = sin r cos . z (15) (16) (17)

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