SECTION 1

Review of vectors
Electricity and magnetism involve fields in 3D space. This section, based on Chapter 1 of Griffiths, reviews
the tools we need to work with them. The topics are:
Vector algebra
Differential calculus
Integral calculus
Curvilinear coordinates
Dirac delta function
Vector fields
Solid angles

Vector algebra
Adding/subtracting vectors:

A+B=C

A
+B=C
C

A
A!B=D

A
AD
!B=D

!B

!B

Multiplication by a scalar:

2A 2A
Unit vector:

BB
= B
B = B where B (which we sometimes write

as |B|) denotes the length of vector B

Dot product (or scalar product):

A
!

A ! B =

AB cos!

The scalar product is the part of A which lies along B , times the magnitude of B
(or equivalently the part of B which lies along A , times the magnitude of A).

The dot product is:

distributive

and

commutative,

meaning respectively that

A ! (B + C) = (A ! B) + (A ! C) A ! B = B ! A

A!B = 0
A ! A = A2

If A is perpendicular to B, then
Also, the dot product has the useful property that

Cross product (or vector product):

B
!

A ! B = (ABsin ! )n

Geometrically, the cross product is the area of a parallelogram formed by A and B. It is in the direction of the
unit vector perpendicular to both A and B, with the right hand rule determining the sign.
The cross product is:

distributive

but

not commutative:

A ! (B + C) = (A ! B) + (A ! C) A ! B = "(B ! A)

If A is parallel to B, the cross product is zero.

A!A = 0

In particular:

Vector components
It is often useful to write vectors in terms of their Cartesian (x, y, z), coordinates:

A = Ax x + Ay y + Az z
Here x , y , and z are defined as unit vectors in the directions of the axes.
Now we can reformulate the algebra rules in terms of components:
Addition: add the like components.
A + B = (Ax + Bx )x + (Ay + By ) y + (Az + Bz ) z





Multiplication by a scalar: multiply each component by the scalar.
aA = aAx x + aAy y + aAz z

Products of vector in components

Dot product: multiply the like components and sum.

! " B = A B + Ay By + Az Bz

x x

Can be proved using results for unit vectors like:

x ! x = 1 x ! y = 0

Cross product: find the determinant of this matrix:

A ! B = Ax

Ay

Az

Bx

By

Bz

or, equivalently,

A ! B = (A B " A B )x + (Az Bx " Ax Bz ) y + (Ax By " Ay Bx ) z

y z
y z

Can be proved using results for unit vectors like:

x ! x = 0

x ! y = z
2


Scalar triple products of vectors
Since the cross product of two vectors is another vector, we can take the dot product of this with a third vector:
n A ! (B " C)




Geometrically, the triple product is the volume of the

A
parallelepiped formed by vectors A, B and C, but it has a sign

C
that can be positive or negative.


B

The sign of the triple product depends on the cyclic order of the vectors, so
A ! (B " C) = B ! (C " A) = C ! (A " B)
Those that are not in the same cyclic order have the opposite sign, e.g.,
B ! (C " A) = #B ! (A " C)

Position, displacement and separation vectors notation (Griffiths)

z

r!"

(x, y, z)

source
point
!

r
y
x

r
r
re

re

field
point

x
re = r ! r"

is called the source point: the place where the charge is located,
is called the field point: the place where we want to know the electric field,
is called the separation vector: it specifies the distance and direction
from the source to the point where we want to calculate the field.

Differential vector calculus

The operator
We can treat this quantity (usually called del) as a vector, which is defined by

! = x

"
"
"
+ y + z
"x
"y
"z

This represents a vector because it has components defined in terms of the usual unit vectors along the x, y and
z axes. However, instead of just numbers or scalar functions as its vector components, it has terms that
differentiate.
For example,
means partial differentiation with respect to x (so differentiate with respect to x
!
while keeping the other variables y and z like constants)
!x

So if there is a scalar function to the right side of the del operator, it will give a vector and each component will
be a partial derivative of that function.
Also, because del is an operator, we can do other operations with it, like taking the cross product or the dot
product of a vector function.


Gradient of a scalar function
In differential calculus with just one variable x, it is a simple property that the derivative df/dx of a function f(x)
measures the slope or gradient of the curve when function f(x) is plotted versus x.

For a scalar function T(x, y, z) in 3 dimensions the generalization is the gradient (written as T or sometimes as
grad T ) given by

!T = x

"T
"T
"T
+ y
+ z
"x
"y
"z

Note that the gradient is obtained when operates on a scalar function T in 3 dimensions, but the result
of doing this is a vector, calculated for any point (x, y, z):

The magnitude of the gradient T gives us the maximum rate of change of the function T at that
point.
The direction of gradient T gives us the direction of maximum rate of change.

Divergence of a vector
If we take the dot product .v of the del operator with a vector function v, where

v = v x + v y + v z

x
y
z


and each component might depend on variables x, y and z in general, we get

!"v =

#vx #vy #vz

+
+
#x #y #z

This scalar function, formed from vector v, is called the divergence of that vector function. It is denoted by .v
or sometimes div v.

Roughly it measures whether there are sources or sinks of the function at the point where we calculate the
divergence.

Curl of a vector
If we now take the cross product of with a vector function v, we have:

!"v =

#
#x

#
#y

#
#z

vx

vy

vz

This new vector is called the curl of the function v. It

is denoted by v or sometimes curl v.

The determinant can be multiplied out in the usual way, so for example the x-component of the curl is

# !v !v &
x % z " y (
$ !y !z '

Roughly the curl calculates whether the flow of a function at any position is rotational or not.

Product rules in vector calculus

These are quoted for reference only (so do not bother to memorize them!). They will be provided for all
midterms and exams. Sometimes we need to calculate grad, div or curl of products of two functions (either
scalar or vector). Some useful results are

For gradient:

For divergence:

!( fg) = f !g + g!f
!(A " B) = A # (! # B) + B # (! # A) + (A " !)B + (B" !)A

! " ( fA) = f (! " A) + A " (!f )

!(A " B) = B # (! " A) $ A # (! " B)

For curl:


! " ( fA) = f (! " A) # A " (!f )

! " (A " B) = (B # !)A $ (A # !)B + A(! # B) $ B " (! # A)
Here scalar functions f and g and the components of vector functions A, B and C can depend on x, y, and z.

Second derivatives involving

These can occur in several different ways. We know that gradient T is a vector, so we could find its
divergence or curl.

Taking the divergence gives

#2T #2T #2T

! " (!T ) = 2 + 2 + 2
#x
#y
#z
2

The right-hand side is often written as T , where we define the operator 2 which is called the Laplacian by

!2 =

"2
"2
"2
+
+
"x 2 "y 2 "z 2

Next, if we try taking the curl of gradient T, we always get 0. It means that for any scalar function T we have

! " (!T ) = 0

Another possible second derivative is the gradient of the divergence of a vector v. This is

!(! " v)

It does not occur very often in physics, so we will not work it out. Although it looks similar to the Laplacian,
they are not the same:
2

!(! " v) # ! v




The divergence of the curl, like the curl of a gradient, is always 0:

! " (! # v) = 0

Finally, the curl of the curl can be rewritten in terms of other quantities already discussed using:

! " (! " v) = !(! # v) $ ! 2 v

Integral vector calculus

Basic integrals involve just one variable (usually x) and are
xn =b
b
taken between limits along the coordinate axis.
lim
f (xn )! xn =
f (x) dx
a
! xn !0
Recall that integrals can always be regarded as the limiting
xn =a

cases of sums:


We will be using three kinds of integrals involving vectors:
Line integrals
these are along a line, as in the above example, but it doesnt have to be a
straight line in general
Surface integrals these are taken over an area rather than a line (so they are like
2-dimensional analogs)

"

Volume integrals

these are taken over a volume rather than a line (so they are like
3-dimensional analogs)

Line integrals

In general, a line integral can be along any three-dimensional line. In this course,
they will usually be in straight line or circular segments. A typical form involves
a dot product like

End b

Here vector v might be a function of coordinates x, y and z, and the vector
element of length dl is the vector with components dx, dy, and dz.
So
v.dl = vxdx + vydy + vzdz

Element
of length

Start a

Sometimes the integral path forms a closed loop, in which case its written as:
" v ! dl
!
A familiar line integral from first year physics is the work W done by a force:

W=

"

F ! dl

Surface integrals

A surface integral over a general surface in 3-dimensions is typically

of the form:

Normal vector
element da

The vector element of area, da, will have components like
Element of area
on the surface

(because the x direction is normal to the yz plane).

As with line integrals, we often do closed integrals: in this case the surface encloses a volume (e.g., the surface
area around a sphere)

!" v ! da

Volume integrals

Volume of
integration

Volume
element d!

Line integrals and surface integrals in physics typically involve

vector functions (in a dot product). Volume integrals more
commonly occur with scalar functions:
where T is a scalar function of x, y and z, and d is a volume
element:

Volume integrals can also be done on vector functions:
each cartesian component would then be integrated
separately.

Fundamental theorem of calculus

A fundamental theorem of calculus states that for a scalar function f(x):

You can think of this as essentially saying that if you start with a function f(x) and differentiate it, then if you
integrate again you get the function you started with (evaluated between the integration limits).
There are three analogous fundamental theorems for vector calculus: one for gradient, one for divergence, and
one for curl.

Fundamental theorem for gradient

For gradients, there is a very direct generalization of the previous fundamental theorem:

(!T )" dl = T (a) $ T (b)

a [ path]

Here T(x,y,z) is a scalar function of position and the integral is a line integral along a path from point a to point
b. Notice that the right hand side doesnt seem to depend on the path chosen; the result of the line
integral is the same for any path provided the end points a and b are the same.

An important corollary is that the integral of a gradient around a closed loop is always 0 (because T(a) and T(b)
will cancel out when a = b):

!# (!T )" dl = 0

Fundamental theorem for divergence
For divergences, the result relates a volume integral to a surface integral (taken over the total surface area of
that volume):

(! " v) d! =

!#

v " da

[surface]
[volume]

In other words, the total divergence of a vector function integrated throughout a particular volume can be found
by adding up (integrating) the net flow in or out through the closed surface bounding that volume.

Fundamental theorem for curl

Area

For curls, the result relates the curl of a vector, when integrated over
a specified area, to the line integral of the vector taken around the
boundary line of that area:

Boundary
path

Two corollaries are that:

!#

[surface]

[surface]

(! " v) $ da

(! " v) $ da =

It is also referred to as Stokes Theorem.

depends only on the boundary line, not the surface chosen.

for any closed surface.
0

Curvilinear coordinates
Spherical coordinates

Angle "

In basic electrostatics problems, we often have a point charge or a spherically

symmetric charge distribution. In these cases, it makes sense to use spherical
coordinates (r, , ) for vector r rather than Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z).

r
y
x

Angle !

We also need to introduce new unit vectors instead of unit vectors in the Cartesian system:

Angle "

We define three new unit vectors:

!
x

Angle !

The unit vectors are related by











Unit vector

We will sometimes need results for

infinitesimal displacements in the
position.
(These were simply dx, dy, and dz
in the Cartesian system).

- This in the direction away from the origin

- This is in the direction of increasing !

- This is in the direction of increasing !

Note that, unlike the Cartesian unit vectors, the directions

of the spherical unit vectors depend on the direction of
vector r relative to the origin.

dr

Displacement

dr
rd!

rd!

d!
r sin ! d"

r sin ! d"

d!

r sin !

Vector Derivatives in Spherical Coordinates

It follows that the earlier definition of the del operator as


becomes replaced in spherical coordinates by


The
expressions
for
gradient,
divergence
and
curl
can
be worked out from the above (see Appendix 1A in the

notes, but do not memorize).

Cylindrical coordinates

z
s
z

In some cases, e.g., when we have a line charge or a cylindrically

symmetric distribution, it makes sense to use cylindrical polar
coordinates (s, , z).

!
s
y

The three unit vectors

are shown:

(in direction of increasing s)
s = cos ! x + sin ! y

! = !sin ! x + cos ! y
z = z

(in direction of increasing !)

(in direction of increasing z)

Unit vector

Again, we will sometimes need

results for infinitesimal
displacements in the position.
(These were simply dx, dy, and
dz in the Cartesian system).

Displacement

ds

sd!

dz

Vector Derivatives in Cylindrical Coordinates

It follows that the expression for the del operator becomes

The expressions for gradient, divergence and curl can be worked out from the above (see Appendix 1A in the
notes, but do not memorize).

Dirac delta function

Example calculation of a divergence

Consider the vector function:


It points radially outwards from the origin, and obviously it diverges
at 0.

Suppose we calculate its divergence:

!"v =

1 #$ 2 1' 1 #
&r
)=
(1) = 0
r 2 #r % r 2 ( r 2 #r

Suppose now we do it another way by applying the divergence theorem, and integrating the divergence over a
sphere of any arbitrary radius R:

# 1 &
r ! R 2 sin ! d! d" r ) =
2 ( (
'

!" v ! da = " %$ R

("

#
0

sin ! d!

)( "

2#
0

d " = 4#

for any R
There seems to be a problem, because one result gives zero divergence while the other gives nonzero! In
particular, whats happening to the divergence at the origin?

The Dirac delta function

The one-dimensional Dirac delta function represents an infinitely high spike that is located at x = 0 but is equal
to zero everywhere else.
Its other defining property is that the area under the spike is unity.





and


9

If we multiply any continuous function f(x) by a delta function, the product is 0 everywhere except at x = 0, and
so


f (x)! (x) = f (0)! (x)
If we integrate over any range that includes 0, we get

"

f (x)! (x)dx = f (0) #

"

! (x)dx = f (0)

!"
!"





We can easily generalize the delta function by shifting the spikes position:

Also

$& "
! (x ! a) = %
&' 0

if x = a
if x # a

"
!"

! (x ! a)dx = 1

f (x)! (x ! a) = f (a)! (x ! a)

and

"
!"

f (x)! (x ! a)dx = f (a)

Three-dimensional Dirac delta function

The generalization to 3 dimensions is straightforward:

! 3 (r) = ! (x)! (y)! (z)

Now it is the 3-dimensional integral that is unity:

! 3 (r)d" =
allspace

"

allspace

Also, for a 3-dimensional function f (r):

"#

"#

"#

! ! !

! (x)! (y)! (z) dxdydz = 1

f (r)! 3 (r ! a)d" = f (a)

Now we can revisit the divergence paradox concerning

We already found that the divergence is 0 everywhere except the origin, and the corresponding surface integral
is 4. It leads to the conclusion that:



In general, in terms of the displacement vector (defined earlier as the distance from the source point to the field
point):

source
point
!

r!"

re

We can also show that

field
point

re = r ! r"

and therefore

Vector fields

Later we will define an electric field vector E and a magnetic field vector B. Eventually, we will arrive at
Maxwells equations, which tell us about the divergence and curl of E and B.

Their properties make it useful to define some potentials (analogous to what is often done in classical
mechanics).

10


1st case: If a vector field F can be written as the gradient of a function V (called the scalar potential), meaning

F = !"V


then it is obvious that
! " F = #! " !V = 0




Less obviously, it can also be proved the other way round:
! " F = 0 # F = $!V

2nd case: Similarly, if a vector field F can be written as the curl of a function A (called the vector potential), so
that




then it is obvious that

F = ! " A

! " F = ! " (! # A) = 0




Again, it can also be proved the other way round:

! " F = 0 # F = ! $ A
Solid angles

Solid angles are useful when we need a measure of all the spatial directions subtended at the vertex of any cone,
even if it has an irregular shape.
Area A on surface
of sphere

Solid
angle

The definition is as follows:

Draw a sphere of any radius R centred at the vertex
and find the area A intersected on the curved surface
of the sphere. The solid angle is

Since A is proportional to R2, the result for does not

depend on the choice for R.
It follows that the total solid angle for all directions in
space is

The definition of solid angle makes dimensionless, but the unit of steradian is sometimes used (by analogy
with radian for angles).
This definition will be useful later in proving Gausss law for the electric field.
Example: Consider a regular solid cone that has half-angle at the vertex. Prove that the total solid angle
subtended at the vertex is
! = 2! (1" cos" )
(To be done as an example in classes).

11

APPENDIX 1A (for reference)

12