Vector Calculus - GATE Study Material in

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In previous articles, we have already seen the basics of Calculus – Differentiation and
Integration and applications. In GATE 2018 Study Notes, we will be introduced to
Vector Calculus. A vector has both magnitude and direction whereas a scalar has
only magnitude. Let us now see how to perform certain operations on vectors.

These GATE study material are useful for GATE EC, GATE EE, GATE ME, GATE CS,
GATE CE and all other branches. Also useful for exams such as BARC, BSNL, DRDO,
IES, ISRO, ECIL etc. You can have these notes downloaded as PDF so that your exam
preparation is made easy and you ace your paper. Before you get started, go through
the basics of Engineering Mathematics.

Recommended Reading –

Types of Matrices

Properties of Matrices

Rank of a Matrix & Its Properties

Solution of a System of Linear Equations

Eigen Values & Eigen Vectors

Linear Algebra Revision Test 1

Laplace Transforms

Limits, Continuity & Differentiability

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 Mean Value Theorems

Differentiation

Partial Differentiation

Maxima and Minima

Methods of Integration & Standard Integrals

Dot Product

Let a⃗ = a1 î + a2 ĵ + a3 k̂ , b
⃗ = b1 î + b2 ĵ + b3 k̂ are two constant vectors.

Then Dot Product of two vectors is given by

⃗.
a. b = |a||b| cos θ where θ = angle between a⃗, b

Note:

1. î ⋅ î = ĵ ⋅ ĵ = k̂ ⋅ k̂ = 1 (∵ θ = 00 )
2. î ⋅ ĵ = ĵ ⋅ k̂ = k̂ ⋅ î = 0 (∵ θ = 900 )
3. Magnitude of Vector a⃗ = |a⃗| = √a21 + a22 + a23
⃗
⃗ ⋅b
a
4. Angle between two vectors θ = cos−1 |a||b|
l1 l2 +m1 m2 +n1 n2
5. Also, cos θ =
√l21 +m21 +n21 √l22 +m22 +n22

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 1 m −m2
6. If slopes are given and angle between two curves is θ then tan θ = 1+m
1 m2

⃗ = 0 ⇒ Vectors are orthogonal (θ = 90°)

7. If a⃗ ⋅ b
⃗ = |a||b| ⇒ Vectors are parallel (θ = 0∘ )
8. If a⃗ ⋅ b

Cross Product

If a and b are two vectors then then cross product between two vectors is given by

a⃗ × ⃗b = |a⃗||b
⃗ | sin θ n̂ where n̂ = unit vector normal to both a⃗ and ⃗b

Note:

1. î × î = ĵ × ĵ = k̂ × k̂ = 0 (∵ θ = 00 )

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2. î × ĵ = ĵ × k̂ = k̂ × î = 1 (∵ θ = 900 )
|a×b|
3. Angle between two vectors is θ then sin θ = |a||b|

4. If a⃗ = a1 î + a2 ĵ + a3 k̂ and b
⃗ = b1 î + b2 ĵ + b3 k̂
then cross product between two vectors
î ĵ k̂
⃗
can be calculated as a⃗ × b = |a1 a2 a3 |
b1 b2 b3
= î(a2 b3 − a3 b2 ) − ĵ(a1 b3 − a3 b1 ) + k̂(a1 b2 − a2 b1 )
5. Geometrically cross product gives the area of triangle
1
6. If ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
AB , ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ × ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
AC are two sides of triangle then area of the triangle is 2 |AB AC|

Triple Product

1. Geometrically Triple Product gives the Volume of Tetrahedron

a1 b1 c1
⃗ ⃗
a⃗ ⋅ (b × c) = (a⃗ × b) ⋅ c = [a b c] = |a2 b2 c2 |
a3 b3 c3
⃗ × c) = 0 ⇒ Vector are coplanar vectors
2. If a⃗ ⋅ (b

Derivative of a Vector

Let r = f(t) be a position vector where t is a scalar variable.

r + δr = f(t + δt)

δr = f(t + δ(t) − f(t)

δr⃗ f(t+δ(t)−f(t) dr⃗

lim = is called
δt→0 δt δt dt

dr⃗ (t+δt)−f(t)
∴ dx = lim f
δt→0 δt

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Vector differentiation is nothing but ordinary differentiation but only difference is r is
position vector.

Formulae:

d
⃗ ± ⃗B) = d ⃗A ± d ⃗B
1. dt (A dt dt

d ⃗⃗ ⃗⃗
⃗ ⋅ ⃗B) = ⃗A ⋅ dB ± dA ⋅ ⃗B Where ⃗A = A(t) and ⃗B = B(t)
2. dt (A dt dt

d ⃗⃗
dB ⃗⃗
dA
⃗ ×B
3. dt (A ⃗ ×
⃗)=A ± ⃗
×B
dt dt

Vector Operator (∇ - Del)

⃗ = î ∂ + ĵ ∂ + k̂ ∂ is called vector operator

∇ ∂x ∂y ∂z

Gradient

⃗ ϕ is called gradient.
If ϕ (x, y, z) be a given scalar function then ∇

⃗∇ϕ = î ∂ϕ + ĵ ∂ϕ + k̂ ∂ϕ
∂x ∂y ∂z

Note:

1. Physically, gradient gives rate of change of ϕ w.r.t x, y, z separately.

2. Geometrically, it gives normal to the level surface.

Example 1:

If ϕ = xyz then find the value of ⃗∇ϕ.

Solution:
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⃗∇ϕ = î ∂ (xyz) + ĵ ∂ (xyz) + k̂ ∂ (xyz)
∂x ∂y ∂z

⃗∇ϕ = îyz + ĵxz + k̂xy

Note:

r⃗
⃗ (log r) = 2
1. ∇ r
r⃗
⃗ (sin r) = cos r⋅
2. ∇ |r|

r⃗
3. ⃗∇(r n ) = n ⋅ r n−1 ⋅ ⃗∇r = n ⋅ r n−1 ⋅ |r| = n ⋅ r n−2 r

4. Let ϕ(x,y,z) = c be given equation of the level surface then the outward unique
⃗ϕ
∇ Grad(ϕ)
⃗⃗ =
normal vector is defined as N = |Grad(ϕ)|
⃗ ϕ|
|∇

Example 2:

̂ for the sphere x 2 + y 2 + z 2 = 9.

Find the value of unit normal vector N

Solution:

ϕ = x 2 + y 2 +z 2 − 9

⃗∇ϕ = î(2x) + ĵ(2y) + k̂(2z)

⃗ ϕ| = 2√x 2 + y 2 + z 2
|∇

⃗ ̂ ̂
̂ = ∇ϕ =
N
xî+yĵ+zk
=
xî+yĵ+zk
⃗ ϕ|
|∇ √x2 +y2 +z 2 3

Angle between Two Surfaces

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Let ϕ1(x,y,z) = C, ϕ2(x,y,z) = C be given equations of two level surfaces and angle
∇ϕ ⋅∇ϕ
between these two surfaces are given as θ then cos θ = |∇ϕ1 ||∇ 2|
1 2

Note:

The angle between two surfaces is nothing but the angle between their normal.
⃗∇ϕ1 . ⃗∇ϕ2 = 0 ⇒ then they are said to be orthogonal surfaces

Example 3:

The angle between the two surfaces x 2 + y 2 + z 2 = 9 and z = x 2 + y 2 − 3 at the point

(2, −1, 2) is

Solution:

Here ϕ1 = x 2 + y 2 + z 2 − 9

⃗ ϕ1 = î(2x) + ĵ(2y) + k̂(2z) ⇒ |∇

∇ ⃗ ϕ1 | = 2√x 2 + y 2 + z 2 = 2√9 = 6

ϕ2 = x 2 + y 2 − z − 3

⃗∇ϕ2 = î(2x) + ĵ(2y) − k̂ ⇒ |∇

⃗ ϕ2 | = √4x 2 + 4y 2 + 1 = √21

⃗∇ϕ .∇
⃗ϕ (4x2 +4y2 −2z) 16+4−4 8
cos θ = |∇⃗ϕ 1||∇⃗ϕ2 | = = = 3√21
1 2 6√21 6√21

Directional Derivatives of a Scalar Function

The directional derivative of a scalar function ϕ (x, y, z) in the direction of a vector a is

⃗
a
given as ⃗∇ϕ ⋅ ê where ê = |a⃗ |

If ⃗∇ϕ ⋅ ê is – ve then it is in the opposite direction.

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Example 4:

The Directional derivative of f(x, y, z) = x 2 yz + 4xz 2 at (1, −2, −1)along (2i – j − 2k) is

Solution:

⃗ ϕ = î[(2xyz) + 4z 2 ] + ĵ[x 2 z] + k̂[x 2 y + 8xz]

∇

Directional Derivative = ⃗∇ϕ ⋅ ê

̂
(2î−ĵ−2k)
At (1, −2, −1)we have ⃗∇ϕ ⋅ ê = [4 + 4]î + (−ĵ) + k̂[−2 − 8] ⋅ 3

16 1 20 37
= +3+ =
3 3 3

Divergence of a Vector

⃗ is a vector point function then ∇

If F ⃗ ⋅F
⃗ is called Divergence of F
⃗

Where 𝐹 = F1 î + F2 ĵ + F3 k̂ and F1 , F2 , F3 are the functions of x, y, z

⃗ = [î ∂ + ĵ ∂ + k̂ ∂ ] ⋅ [F1 î + F2 ĵ + F3 k̂]

⃗ ⋅F
∴ ∇ ∂x ∂y ∂z

⃗ = ∂F1 + ∂F2 + ∂F3

⃗ ⋅F
∇ ∂x ∂y ∂z

Note:

1. Divergence of a vector is scalar.

2. Physically Divergence measures (outflow - inflow)
3. A vector whose divergence is zero then it is said to be divergence free vector (or)
solenoid vector i.e. outflow = inflow = constant

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4. Geometrically, Divergence gives the rate at which the fluid entering in a
rectangular parallelepiped per unit volume at the point.

Curl of a Vector

⃗ ×F
∇ ⃗ = F1 î + F2 ĵ + F3 k̂
⃗ is called the curl of a vector where F

î ĵ k̂
∂F ∂F2 ∂F ∂F1
⃗ ×F
∇ ⃗ =| ∂ ∂ ∂
| = î ( ∂x3 − ) − ĵ ( ∂x3 − ) + ̂ (∂F2 − ∂F1 )
k
∂x ∂y ∂z ∂z ∂z ∂x ∂y
F1 F2 F3

Note:

1. If ⃗∇ × ⃗F = 0 then it is said to be irrational vector otherwise it is said to be rotational

vector.
1
2. Physically Curl gives the angular Velocity ⃗w ⃗ ×V
⃗ = 2 (∇ ⃗)

3. Divergence of a curl of any vector is always zero.

4. ⃗∇. (∇
⃗ ϕ) = ⃗∇2 ϕ

⃗ ⋅ (∇
5. ∇ ⃗ ×F
⃗)=0

⃗ × (∇
6. ∇ ⃗ ×F
⃗)= ∇
⃗ (∇
⃗ ⋅F
⃗)−∇
⃗ 2F
⃗

⃗ × (B
7. A ⃗ ) = (A
⃗ ×C ⃗ ⋅C
⃗ )B ⃗ .B
⃗ − (A ⃗ is known as a vector triple product.
⃗ )C

Example 5:

The values of a, b, c so that the vector,

⃗ = (x + 2y + az)î + (bx − 3y − z)ĵ + (4x + cy + 2z)k̂ is irrotational

V

Solution:

Given, that vector V is irrotational

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∴ ⃗∇ × ⃗V = 0

î ĵ k̂
∂ ∂ ∂
=| |
∂x ∂y ∂z
(x + 2y + az) (bx − 3y − z) (4x + cy + 2z)

⇒ î(c + 1) + ĵ(4 − a) + k̂(b − 2) = 0

⇒ c = −1, a = 4, b = 2

∴ a = 4, b = 2, c = −1

So far we have seen about basic terminology in vector calculus and in the next article
we will discuss about integration in vectors. Also we will discuss some important
theorems which will convert one form of integral into another form of integral.

Did you like this article on Vector Calculus? Let us know in the comments? You may
also like the following articles –

Vector Integration
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