ELEC 0305

Electromagnetic Fields
UNIT 1 : VECTORS
 Vectors and scalars:
 SCALAR: A quantity whose value is represented by a single
(positive or negative) real number
Examples: Temperature, Pressure, Distance, Voltage

 VECTOR: A quantity whose value is represented by both

DIRECTION and MAGNITUDE. ( Think 2D and 3D)

Examples: Force applied, Velocity, Wind flow

 Scalar Fields - Contours

• Colors represent surface temperature

• Contour lines show constant temperatures
3
Example of a Scalar Field
Vector Field : Jet Stream

Magnitude
and direction
at every point

5
Examples of Vector Fields
Examples of Vector Fields
Vector: How do we represent it ??
 VECTOR REPRESENTATION
3 PRIMARY COORDINATE SYSTEMS:

• RECTANGULAR Choice is based on

symmetry of problem
• CYLINDRICAL

• SPHERICAL
Examples:
Sheets - RECTANGULAR

Wires/Cables - CYLINDRICAL

Spheres - SPHERICAL
There are many coordinate systems but here we are going to study only rectangular system of
coordinates.

Cartesian Coordinate system is a Orthogonal Coordinate Systems

(coordinates mutually perpendicular). also called Rectangular coordinates
system.
z

z P(x,y,z)

x
Cylindrical Coordinates P (r, Θ, z)

P(r, θ, z)

r y
x θ
Spherical Coordinates P (r, Θ, Φ)

P(r, θ, Φ)
θ r

y
x Φ
Cartesian Coordinates ( x, y, z)
Vector representation
z
 z1
A  xˆAx  yˆ Ay  zˆAz
Z plane 
Magnitude of A A( x1 , y1 , z1 )
x plane
    la ne
Az yp
A  A  A   Ax2  Ay2  Az2
y1
y
Position vector of A Ay
Ax
x1
ˆx1  y
x ˆ y1  zˆz1 x

Base vector properties

xˆ  yˆ  zˆ
xˆ  xˆ  yˆ  yˆ  zˆ  zˆ  1
yˆ  zˆ  xˆ
xˆ  yˆ  yˆ  zˆ  zˆ  xˆ  0
zˆ  xˆ  yˆ
 VECTOR REPRESENTATION: UNIT VECTORS
Rectangular Coordinate System
Unit Vector
Representation
z â z for Rectangular
Coordinate
System

â x â y

y
The Unit Vectors imply :
x
â x Points in the direction of increasing x

â y Points in the direction of increasing y

â z Points in the direction of increasing z

Example 1.1

Find the unit vector along the vector,

Example 1.2
Determine the vector extending from point A (1, 2, 2) ) towards
the point B(-2 ,-3, 1). Also calculate the magnitude and direction
of the vector.
MATHEMATICAL OPERATIONS ON VECTORS

 ADDITION OF VECTORS :
 ADDTION IS COMMUTATIVE :

⃗ 𝐵 +⃗
𝐵= ⃗
𝐴+ ⃗ 𝐴
 ADDITION IS ASSOCIATIVE

𝐵 +⃗
(⃗ 𝐴)+𝐶 𝐵 +⃗
⃗ = ⃗ 𝐴 ⃗)
( +𝐶
 SUBTRACTION OF VECTORS:
 SUBTRACTION IS NOT COMMUTATIVE:

⃗
𝐴 + (-⃗
𝐵≠
) ⃗
𝐵 ⃗
- 𝐴
 MATHEMATICAL OPERATIONS ON VECTORS
 MULTIPLICATION OF VECTORS:
 DOT PRODUCT: (SCALAR PRODUCT)

A  B | A || B | cos   B  A

• Eg: the calculation giving the work done by a force during a

displacement
• work and hence energy are scalar quantities which arise from
the multiplication of two vectors
• if A·B = 0, then: A
• The vector A is zero OR
• The vector B is zero OR
•  = 90°
 B
It obeys commutative law
A.B = B. A
Let, A  Ax a x  Ay a y  Az a z
B  Bx a x  B y a y  Bz a z
𝐴ҧ.𝐵ത= ൫𝐴𝑥 ത𝑎ത𝑥ത+ 𝐴𝑦 ത𝑎ത𝑦ത+ 𝐴𝑧 ത𝑎തത𝑧 ൯.൫𝐵𝑥 ത𝑎ത𝑥ത+ 𝐵𝑦 ത𝑎ത𝑦ത+ 𝐵𝑧 ത𝑎തത𝑧 ൯
= 𝐴𝑥 𝐵𝑥 + 𝐴𝑦 𝐵𝑦 + 𝐴𝑧 𝐵𝑧
 Unit vector relationships
 It is frequently used to resolve vectors into components along the axial directions in
terms of the 3 unit vectors
MULTIPLICATION OF VECTORS:
CROSS PRODUCT: (VECTOR PRODUCT)

A  B | A || B | sin  n   B  A
 n is the unit vector along the normal to the plane containing A and B
and its positive direction is determined as the right-hand screw rule
 the magnitude of the vector product of A and B is equal to the area of
the parallelogram formed by A and B
 if A x B = 0
 The vector A is zero
 Or the vector B is zero
 Or  = 0° A

 B
𝑨× 𝑩=𝒂 𝒙 ( 𝑨 𝒚 𝑩𝒛 − 𝑨 𝒛 𝑩𝒚 ) − ( 𝑨 𝒙 𝑩𝒛 − 𝑨 𝒛 𝑩𝒙 ) 𝒂 𝒚 + ( 𝑨 𝒙 𝑩 𝒚 − 𝑨 𝒚 𝑩 𝒙 ) 𝒂 𝒛

Contrary to definition of scalar product, the vector B  A has the same magnitude but the
opposite direction
B  A=- A B
RULES OF VECTOR MULTIPLICATION

 Commutative law :
A B  B  A
A B  B  A

 Distribution law :
A  (B  C)  A  B  A  C
A  (B  C)  A  B  A  C

 Associative law :
A  BC  D  ( A  B )(C  D)
A  BC  ( A  B )C
A  B  C  ( A  B)  C
A  ( B  C )  ( A  B)  C
Example 1.3
Two vectors are defined as and determine the unit vectors of
i.
ii.
iii.

Example 1.4
Given points M(2,1,-2) and N (1,-4,2), find and
Example 1.5
Given , , and Find ,
i.
ii.

Example 1.6
Show that the vectors , and are parallel to each other.
Example 1.7
Show that the vector , is perpendicular to vector .

Example 1.8
Given the vectors , and , determine a) b) Angle between and .

Example 1.9
Find the value of m so that the angle between two vectors, is 90.
 BEHAVIOUR OF A CHANGING VECTOR :

Following operators are used to determine/describe the time varying vector fields
 Gradient
 Divergence.
 Curl.
 Laplacian.
 GRADIENT
 Gradient is an operation on scalar or vectors fields, which points the
direction of rate of change of that field. For one field, in different
directions rates may be different so mainly we are concerned with the
maximum rate of change.

 The gradient can also be used to measure how a scalar field changes in
different directions, rather than just the direction of greatest change. So it
helps in analysis of the fields. Consider an example of two fields.
For example consider a room in which the temperature is given by a scalar
field, T, so at each point (x,y,z) the temperature is T(x,y,z) (we will assume that
the temperature does not change in time). At each point in the room, the
gradient of T at that point will show the direction the temperature rises most
quickly. The magnitude of the gradient will determine how fast the
temperature rises in that particular direction.
 Example 1.10
A scalar field is given as W= 3x2yz-4xy- 2yz3. Find the magnitude of gradient of this field at
(2,-2,1)m

Practice problem
A given scalar field by the expression W= 0.05 x2-15y- 2z3. Find the gradient of this field
at (-1,-2,-1)m
 DIVERGENCE
 It measures the magnitude of a source or sink at a given point in a
vector field.
 The result of divergence operation is a SCALAR
 PHYSICAL MEANING : Represents the volume density of the
outward flux of a vector field from an infinitesimal volume around
a given point.
 Positive divergence indicates source, and negative divergence
indicates sink.
Examples:
Consider Air as it is heated or cooled. Let the vector be the VELOCITY of air moving at a
point. If air is heated in a region, it will expand in all directions & thus the VELOCITY
vector will point outward from that region. Therefore the divergence of velocity field in
that region would have a positive value, as the region is the SOURCE. If the air is cooled
in a particular region, air contracts thus making divergence negative and the region will be
called a SINK.
 Example – contd:

 VELOCITY of air in a tyre that is just punctured by a nail. The air inside the tube
will expand and start flowing out of the tube. That is net flow of air is from inside to
outside.
therefore : SOURCE: INSIDER OF TYRE
SINK : OUTSIDE THE TYRE

Here Div A shows the divergence of vector A and the DEL operator

 If the divergence of a vector is zero, then that vector is called SPIRAL OR

SOLENOIDAL VECTOR. It means that the vector is incompressible.
Example: Water in a bathtub. i.e if , then is said to be solenoidal
Example 1.11

Find the divergence of at point P(- 1,-2,2 ).

Practice problem
Find the divergence of , where
 CURL

𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐥 𝑨=𝟎
 A Vector A is said to be IRROTATIONAL if
its curl is zero. That is :
Example: Water flow in a pipe.
𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐥≠
𝑨𝟎
 Curl :
A  Ax a x  Ay a y  Az a z
It can be expressed as
𝑎ത
ത ത ത
𝑥 𝑎തത 𝑎
𝑦 തതത
𝑧
𝜕 𝜕 𝜕
∇×A ഥ= ተ ተ ተ
ተ
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
𝐴𝑥 𝐴𝑦 𝐴𝑧
∂A ∂Ay ∂Az ∂Ax ∂Ay ∂Ax
∇×A ഥ= ቆ z − ቇത 𝑎തത− ൬ −
𝑥 ൰𝑎
തതത+ ቆ
𝑦 − ቇ𝑎
തതത
𝑧
∂y ∂z ∂x ∂z ∂x ∂y
∇×A ഥ = curl A ഥ

Example 1.12
Find the curl of the vector .

Practice problem
 LAPLACIAN OPERATOR

 IT’S A COMBINATION OF DIVERGENCE AND GRADIENT OPERATORS .

 Eg: The rate at which chemical dissolved in a fluid moves to or away from a point is
proportional to the Laplacian of chemical concentration at that point.
 Example 1.13

Practice problem
A vector is given as Evaluate for a surface bound by a cuboid having dimensions,
x = 0,x = 1; y = 0, y = 2; and z = 0, z = 1.
 Mock test
1. Two vectors are defined as A = 5ax + 2ay + 3az and
B = -3ax +ay -4az, determine the following:

a. Unit vector of (A – B)
b. |A + 2B|

2. Given two points M(2, -2, 1) and N (2, 3, -3)

determine the following:

a. RMN
b. |2RM-3RN|

3. Show that vector A = 6ax + 2ay -5az is

perpendicular to B = 5ax -5ay +4az