The idea behind the divergence theorem

Suggested background

The idea of the divergence of a vector field

Introduction to a surface integral of a vector field

http://mathinsight.org/divergence_theorem_idea

Let's say I have a rigid container filled with some gas. If the gas starts to expand but the container does not expand,
what has to happen? Since we assume that the container does not expand (it is rigid) but that the gas is expanding,
then gas has to somehow leak out of the container. (Or I suppose the container could burst, but that counts as both
gas leaking out of the container and the container expanding.)

If I go to a gas station and pump air into one of my car's tires, what has to happen to the air inside the tire? (Assume
the tire is rigid and does not expand as I put air inside it.) The air inside of the tire compresses.
These two examples illustrate the divergence theorem (also called Gauss's theorem). Recall that if a vector
field F represents the flow of a fluid, then the divergence of F represents the expansion or compression of the fluid.
The divergence theorem says that the total expansion of the fluid inside some three-dimensional region Wequals the
total flux of the fluid out of the boundary of W. In math terms, this means the triple integral of divFover the
region W is equal to the flux integral (or surface integral) of F over the surface W that is the boundary of W (with
outward pointing normal):

WdivFdV=WFdS.
I hope that this makes sense intuitively from the above two examples. In the first example, the gas expanding
meant divF>0 everywhere in W, the inside of the container. Therefore, the net flux out of W, WFdS, must also
be greater than zero, i.e., the gas must leak out through the container walls W. In the second example, by pumping
air into the tire W, I insisted that the net flux out of the tire, WFdS, must be negative (since there was a net flux
\textbf{into} the tire, and we are assuming an outward pointing normal). By the divergence theorem, the total
expansion inside W, WdivFdV, must be negative, meaning the air was compressing.
Notice that the divergence theorem equates a surface integral with a triple integral over the volume inside the surface.
In this way, it is analogous to Green's theorem, which equates a line integral with a double integral over the region
inside the curve. Remember that Green's theorem applies only for closed curves. For the same reason, the divergence
theorem applies to the surface integral

SFdS
only if the surface S is a closed surface. Just like a closed curve, a closed surface has no boundary. A closed surface has
to enclose some region, like the surface that represents a container or a tire. In other words, the surface has to be a
boundary of some W (i.e., S=W), as described above. You cannot use the divergence theorem to calculate a surface

integral over S if S is an open surface, like part of a cone or a paraboloid. If you want to use the divergence theorem to
calculate the ice cream flowing out of a cone, you have to include a top to your cone to make your surface a closed
surface.
Here are some divergence theorem examples.

Divergence theorem examples

Suggested background

The idea behind the divergence theorem

Example 1
Compute SFdS where

F=(3x+z77,y2sinx2z,xz+yex5)
and S is surface of box

0x1,0y3,0z2.
Use outward normal n.
Solution: Given the ugly nature of the vector field, it would be hard to compute this integral directly. However, the
divergence of F is nice:

divF=3+2y+x.
We use the divergence theorem to convert the surface integral into a triple integral

SFdS=BdivFdV
where B is the box

0x1,0y3,0z2.
We compute the triple integral of divF=3+2y+x over the box B:

SFdS=103020(3+2y+x)dzdydx=1030(6+4y+2x)dydx=10(18+18+6x)dx=36+3=39.

Example 2
For F=(xy2,yz2,x2z), use the divergence theorem to evaluate

SFdS
where S is the sphere of radius 3 centered at origin. Orient the surface with the outward pointing normal vector.
Solution: Since I am given a surface integral (over a closed surface) and told to use the divergence theorem, I must
convert the surface integral into a triple integral over the region inside the surface.
Since divF=y2+z2+x2, the surface integral is equal to the triple integral

B(y2+z2+x2)dV
where B is ball of radius 3.
To evaluate the triple integral, we can change variables to spherical coordinates. In spherical coordinates, the ball is

03,02,0.
The integral is simply x2+y2+z2=2. For spherical coordinates, we know that the Jacobian determinant
is dV=2sinddd. Therefore, the integral is

302004sinddd=3020[4cos]==0dd=302024dd=3044d=45530=9725.

Notice that the arrows continue to get longer as one moves away from the origin so that the fluid is flowing faster
when it exits the sphere than when it enters. Moreover, since the arrows are radiating outward, the fluid is always
entering the sphere over less than half its surface and is exiting the sphere over greater than half its surface. Hence,
the flow out of the sphere is always greater than the flow into the sphere.
The divergence of a vector field simply measures how much the flow is expanding at a given point. It does not indicate
in which direction the expansion is occuring. Hence (in contrast to the curl of a vector field), the divergence is a
scalar. Once you know the formula for the divergence, it's quite simple to calculate the divergence of a vector, such as
in this example.