Machine-translated by Google. Questions are authored in English.
Top

Discussion

Stokes's theorem states that the circulation of a field round a closed curve equals

  • A.the volume integral of its divergence within the curve
  • B.the flux of its gradient through any surface spanning the curve
  • C.the flux of its curl through any surface spanning the curve
  • D.the flux of the field itself through any surface spanning the curve

Answer: C

The theorem reads

\[ \oint_{C} \mathbf{F} \cdot d\mathbf{r} \;=\; \iint_{S} (\nabla \times \mathbf{F}) \cdot \mathbf{n}\,dS. \]

That the surface may be any one spanning the curve follows because the curl is solenoidal, so its flux depends only on the boundary. It also explains at once why an irrotational field has zero circulation

No comment is present. Be the first to comment.
Loading…

Post your comment

Please log in or register to post a comment.