In this lesson, we continue exploring the Divergence theorem and its applications. The theorem gives us a way to calculate the flux of a vector field for a closed surface. If we have a closed surface S bounding some region D and a vector field defined in space, we can compute the flux of the vector field from the surface. By reducing this to a calculation of the triple integral of the divergence of F inside, we can understand the physical interpretation of the divergence theorem, which tells us that the divergence of a vector field corresponds to the amount of flux generated per unit volume. The lesson also includes a proof of the Divergence theorem for vertically simple regions.
A continuation of the previous lesson; applications and proof of the Divergence Theorem.
Denis Auroux. 18.02 Multivariable Calculus, Fall 2007. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare). http://ocw.mit.edu (Accessed March 21, 2009). License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike.