2.3 Differentiation of Scalar and Vector Functions
As we might expect, in addition to the need to integrate scalar and vector expressions as described above, we also need to differentiate scalar and vector functions. The rules and implications of these operations are considered next. Three types of operations are defined: the gradient, thedivergence, and thecurl. The first relates to scalar functions and the second and third to vector functions. These operations will be shown to be fundamental to understanding of vector fields.