Gradient of A Vector

Motivation[edit]
Gradient of the 2D function f(x, y) = xe(x2 + y2) is plotted as blue arrows over the pseudocolor plot of the function.
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). (Assume that the temperature does not change over time.) At each point in
the room, the gradient of T at that point will show the direction in which the temperature rises most
quickly. The magnitude of the gradient will determine how fast the temperature rises in that direction.
Consider a surface whose height above sea level at point (x, y) is H(x, y). The gradient of H at a
point is a vector pointing in the direction of the steepest slope or grade at that point. The steepness
of the slope at that point is given by the magnitude of the gradient vector.
The gradient can also be used to measure how a scalar field changes in other directions, rather than
just the direction of greatest change, by taking a dot product. Suppose that the steepest slope on a
hill is 40%. If a road goes directly up the hill, then the steepest slope on the road will also be 40%. If,
instead, the road goes around the hill at an angle, then it will have a shallower slope. For example, if
the angle between the road and the uphill direction, projected onto the horizontal plane, is 60, then
the steepest slope along the road will be 20%, which is 40% times the cosine of 60.
This observation can be mathematically stated as follows. If the hill height
function H is differentiable, then the gradient of H dotted with a unit vector gives the slope of the hill
in the direction of the vector. More precisely, when H is differentiable, the dot product of the gradient
of H with a given unit vector is equal to the directional derivative of H in the direction of that unit
vector.
Definition[edit]
The gradient of the function f(x,y) = (cos2x + cos2y)2depicted as a projected vector field on the bottom plane.
The gradient (or gradient vector field) of a scalar function f(x1, x2, x3,... xn) is
denoted f or f where (the nabla symbol) denotes the vector differential operator, del. The
notation grad f is also commonly used for the gradient. The gradient of f is defined as the
unique vector field whose dot product with any unit vector v at each point x is the directional
derivative of f along v. That is,
When a function also depends on a parameter such as time, the gradient often refers simply to
the vector of its spatial derivatives only (see Spatial gradient).
Cartesian coordinates[edit]
In the three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system with a Euclidean metric, the gradient, if it
exists, is given by:
where i, j, k are the standard unit vectors in the directions of the x, y and z coordinates,
respectively. For example, the gradient of the function
is
In some applications it is customary to represent the gradient as a row

vector or column vector of its components in a rectangular coordinate system.
Cylindrical and spherical coordinates[edit]

Main article: Del in cylindrical and spherical coordinates
In cylindrical coordinates with a Euclidean metric, the gradient is given by:[1]
where is the azimuthal or azimuth angle, z is the axial coordinate,
and e, e and ez are unit vectors pointing along the coordinate directions.
In spherical coordinates, the gradient is given by:[1]
where is the azimuth angle and is the zenith angle.

For the gradient in other orthogonal coordinate systems, see Orthogonal
coordinates (Differential operators in three dimensions).
Gradient and the derivative or

differential[edit]
Part of a series of articles about
Calculus
Fundamental theorem
Limits of functions
Continuity
Mean value theorem
Rolle's theorem
Differential[show]
Integral[show]
Series[show]
Vector[hide]
Gradient
Divergence
Curl
Laplacian
Directional derivative
Identities
Theorems
Divergence
Gradient
Green's
KelvinStokes
Multivariable[show]
Specialized[show]
v
t
e
Linear approximation to a function[edit]

The gradient of a function f from the Euclidean space n to at any
particular point x0 in n characterizes the best linear
approximation to f at x0. The approximation is as follows:
for x close to x0, where (f)x0 is the gradient of f computed at x0, and
the dot denotes the dot product on n. This equation is equivalent to
the first two terms in the multivariable Taylor series expansion of f at x0.
Differential or (exterior) derivative[edit]

The best linear approximation to a differentiable function
at a point x in n is a linear map from n to which is often

denoted by dfx or Df(x) and called
the differential or (total) derivative of f at x. The gradient is
therefore related to the differential by the formula
for any v n. The function df, which maps x to dfx, is called

the differential or exterior derivative of f and is an example of
a differential 1-form.
If n is viewed as the space of (dimension n) column vectors
(of real numbers), then one can regard df as the row vector
with components
so that dfx(v) is given by matrix multiplication. Assuming

the standard Euclidean metric on n, the gradient is then
the corresponding column vector, i.e.,
.
Gradient as a derivative[edit]
Let U be an open set in n. If the function f : U
is differentiable, then the differential of f is
the (Frchet) derivative of f. Thus f is a function
from U to the space such that
where is the dot product.

As a consequence, the usual properties of the
derivative hold for the gradient:
Linearity[edit]
The gradient is linear in the sense that
if f and g are two real-valued functions
differentiable at the point a n, and and are
two constants, then f + g is differentiable at a,
and moreover
Product rule[edit]
If f and g are real-valued functions
differentiable at a point a n, then the
product rule asserts that the product fg is
differentiable at a, and
Chain rule[edit]
Suppose that f : A is a real-valued
function defined on a subset A of n, and
that f is differentiable at a point a. There
are two forms of the chain rule applying to
the gradient. First, suppose that the
function g is a parametric curve; that is, a
function g : I n maps a subset I
into n. If g is differentiable at a
point c Isuch that g(c) = a, then
where is the composition

operator: (fg)(x) = f(g(x)).
More generally, if instead I k, then
the following holds:
where (Dg)T denotes the

transpose Jacobian matrix.
For the second form of the chain
rule, suppose that h : I is a
real valued function on a
subset I of , and that h is
differentiable at the point f(a) I.
Then
Further
properties and
applications[edit]
Level sets[edit]
See also: Level set Level
sets versus the gradient
A level surface, or isosurface,
is the set of all points where
some function has a given
value.
If f is differentiable, then
the dot product (f)x v of
the gradient at a point x with a
vector v gives the directional
derivative of f at x in the
direction v. It follows that in
this case the gradient
of f is orthogonal to the level
sets of f. For example, a level
surface in three-dimensional
space is defined by an
equation of the form F(x, y, z)
= c. The gradient of F is then
normal to the surface.
More generally,
any embedded hypersurface i
n a Riemannian manifold can
be cut out by an equation of
the form F(P) = 0 such
that dF is nowhere zero. The
gradient of F is then normal to
the hypersurface.
Similarly, an affine algebraic
hypersurface may be defined
by an equation F(x1,... xn) =
0, where F is a polynomial.
The gradient of F is zero at a
singular point of the
hypersurface (this is the
definition of a singular point).
At a non-singular point, it is a
nonzero normal vector.
Conservative vector
fields and the
gradient
theorem[edit]
Main article: Gradient theorem
The gradient of a function is
called a gradient field. A
(continuous) gradient field is
always a conservative vector
field: its line integral along any
path depends only on the
endpoints of the path, and can
be evaluated by the gradient
theorem (the fundamental
theorem of calculus for line
integrals). Conversely, a
(continuous) conservative
vector field is always the
gradient of a function.
Generalizations[ed
it]
Gradient of a
vector[edit]
See also: Covariant derivative
Since the total derivative of a
vector field is a linear
mapping from vectors to
vectors, it is a tensor quantity.
In rectangular coordinates,
the gradient of a vector
field f = (f1, f2, f3) is defined
by:

Gradient of A Vector

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Motivation[edit]

In some applications it is customary to represent the gradient as a row

Cylindrical and spherical coordinates[edit]

where is the azimuth angle and is the zenith angle.

Gradient and the derivative or

Linear approximation to a function[edit]

Differential or (exterior) derivative[edit]

at a point x in n is a linear map from n to which is often

for any v n. The function df, which maps x to dfx, is called

so that dfx(v) is given by matrix multiplication. Assuming

where is the dot product.

where is the composition

where (Dg)T denotes the

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