We begin this section by taking a look at how to calculate a line integral of a vector field along different line segments. We will use this calculation as inspiration to see how treating oriented curves as vector-valued functions will allow us to quickly turn a line integral of a vector field into a single variable integral.
Let , let be the line segment from to , let be the line segment from to , and let be the line segment from to . Also let . This vector field and the curves are shown in Figure 12.3.1.
The vector field plotted for and . This vector field radiates from the origin with vector length increasing as distance from the origin increases. The graph includes the line segment from to , the line segment from to , and the line segment from to .
Figure12.3.1.A vector field and three oriented curves
Every point along has . Therefore, along , the vector field can be viewed purely as a function of . In particular, along , we have . Since every point along has the same -value, write as a function of only (for the points on ).
Subsection12.3.1Parametrizations in the Definition of
In Preview Activity 12.3.1, you saw how line integrals along vertical and horizontal line segments can be done as integrals of a single variable. Before moving on to the general case, let us consider in the next example how we might tackle in Figure 12.3.1.
Since is from to , we can determine that the line segment has slope , so we can write an equation for the line as or . Thus, along the curve , we can write
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Thinking of the slope of as , we can write , which can be rearranged to . We may view as . Since and , we use the fact that to write . Along , we have , so having rewritten in terms of and in terms of , we can now write
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Notice that this result is different than what you obtained for in Preview Activity 12.3.1, even though and both start at and end at .
A recurring theme in this chapter will be the consideration of whether or not a vector field is a gradient vector field. Before moving on to generalize Example 12.3.2 to curves that are not line segments, it is worth examining this question for the vector field we have been investigating.
Preview Activity 12.3.1 and Example 12.3.2 have shown us that it is possible to evaluate line integrals without needing to work with Riemann sums directly. However, the approaches taken there seem rather cumbersome to use for oriented curves that are not line segments. It was not critical that the paths in Figure 12.3.1 were straight lines, but rather that the paths had a description where both and could be expressed in terms of one variable. Fortunately, parametrizing the oriented curve along which a line integral is calculated provides exactly the tool we are looking for. Namely a parameterization gives a way to express the points of the oriented curve in terms of a single variable (the parameter). Note that given a parameterization, we can also translate the vector field component equations into functions of the parameter as well.
In this example, we will look at the particulars of applying a parameterization of (given by with ) to Definition 12.2.9. In particular, we will use this parameterization and a set of points along that are equally spaced in terms of parameter values. To make this discussion a bit easier to read, we will work with a curve in two dimensions. However, all the ideas here generalize directly to curves in .
Suppose that is an oriented curve traced out by the vector-valued function for , and let be a continuous vector field defined on a region containing . We can divide the interval into sub-intervals, each of length , by letting for . Dividing the interval into pieces using then can be used to break up into pieces by letting be the part of the curve from to for .
Our vector field for can also be transformed into a function of by substituting the and inputs with the corresponding components of the parameterization. If , then the parameterization given by means we can rewrite as a function of :
We can now substitute these pieces into Definition 12.2.9 to obtain the following
When evaluating the limit as , the expression in the parentheses will be . We then have a Riemann sum that changes the evaluation of a line integral of a vector field along an oriented curve to a definite integral of a function of one variable. In particular,
Note that after evaluating the dot product, is (scalar) function of .
Let and let be the quarter of the circle of radius from to . This vector field and curve are shown in Figure 12.3.8. By properties of line integrals, we know that , and we will use this property since is the usual clockwise orientation of a circle, meaning we can parametrize by for .
The region in the -plane with and . The quarter circle of radius centered at the origin and oriented clockwise is shown along with the vector field , which contains vectors whose magnitudes increase more as increases than as increases. Also vectors farther from the -axis have steeper positive slope than those close to the -axis, which are close to horiznotal.
Figure12.3.8.The vector field and an oriented curve
As Example 12.3.7 shows, Theorem 12.3.6 allows us to reduce the problem of calculating a line integral of a vector-valued function along an oriented curve to one of finding a suitable parametrization for the curve. Once we have such a parametrization, evaluating the line integral becomes evaluating a single-variable integral, which is something you have done many times before. The example also illustrates that using the properties of line integrals can allow us to use a more “natural” parametrization. You may find it interesting to use the parametrization for to evaluate the line integral. Do you get the same result?
Let . Let be the closed curve consisting of the top half of the circle of radius centered at the origin and the portion of the -axis from to , oriented clockwise. Find the circulation of around .
Activity 12.3.4 will have you look at line integrals of the same vector field over several different types of curves. This will be an important, recurring theme as we study a variety of different integrals and vector fields in this chapter. In particular, we will use this approach of varying the region of integration for a fixed function several times in later activities.
What does your answer to part c allow you to say about the value of the line integral of along the top half of compared to the line integral of from to along the bottom half of the circle of radius centered at the origin?
Subsection12.3.2Alternative Notation for Line Integrals
In contexts where the fact that the quantity we are measuring via a line integral is best measured via a dot product (such as calculating work), the notation we have used thus far for line integrals is fairly common. However, sometimes the vector field is such that the units on ,, and are not distances. In this case, a dot product may not have quite the same physical meaning, and an alternative notation using differentials can be common. Specifically, if , then
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A line integral in the form of is called the differential form of a line integral. (If is a vector field in , the term is omitted.) For example, if and is some oriented curve in , then
It is important to recognize that the integral on the right-hand side is still a line integral and must be evaluated using techniques for evaluating line integrals. We cannot simply try to treat the line integral of the form as if it were a definite integral of a function of one variable. Because the notation provides a reminder that this is a line integral and not a definite integral of the types calculated earlier in your study of calculus, we will only use the vector notation for line integrals in the body of the text. However, some exercises may require the use of the differential form, and you may see the differential form used frequently in fields such as physics and engineering.
Subsection12.3.3Independence of Parametrization for a Fixed Curve
Up to this point, we have chosen whatever parametrization of an oriented curve was most convienent, and our argument for how we can use parametrizations to calculate line integrals did not depend on the specific choice of parametrization. However, it is not immediately obvious that different parametrizations don’t result in different values of the line integral. Our next example explores this question.
Let . We consider two different oriented curves from to . The first oriented curve travels horizontally to and then proceeds vertically to . The second oriented curve is the line segment from to . Notice that, as depicted in Figure 12.3.10, we can break up into two oriented curves (the horizontal portion) and (the vertical portion) so that .
The vector field , which consists of horiznotal vectors that increase in length as distance from the -axis increases. Three oriented line segments are also depicted. The line segment is from to . The line segment is from to . The line segment is from to .
Figure12.3.10.The vector field and some oriented curves.
Now we look at , but we parametrize in a nonstandard way by letting for . (You should use a graphing utility to plot this parametrization to help convince yourself that it really does give .) This gives , and
In the next activity, you are asked to consider the more typical parametrization of and verify that using it gives the same value for the line integral.
It’s also worth observing here that , so at least two (very different) paths from to give the same value of the line integral here. The next section will further investigate when line integrals over different paths (with the same initial point and final point) will evaluate to the same value.
As promised, the final activity of this section (Activity 12.3.5) asks you to look at another parametrization of the curve from the previous example. It also asks you to look at two different oriented curves between a pair of points, similarly to what you did in Activity 12.3.4.
The typical parametrization of the line segment from to (the oriented curve in Example 12.3.9) is where . Use this parametrization to calculate for the vector field and compare your answer to the result of Example 12.3.9.
Is the vector field you considered in the previous two parts a gradient vector field? Why or why not? How does this compare to the vector field of Activity 12.3.4?
Although we have not given a proof or even an intuitive argument, the phenomenon you observed in part a of Activity 12.3.5 is not particular to this curve or this vector field. The value of does not depend on the parametrization of used to calculate the line integral when using Theorem 12.3.6.
Line integrals of vector fields along oriented curves can be evaluated by parametrizing the curve in terms of and then calculating the integral of on the interval .
If the wind in a region of space is given by and a helicopter flies along the path given by as . Calculate the work done by the wind on the helicopter.
Subsection12.3.6Notes to Instructors and Dependencies
This section relies heavily on the idea of line integrals developed in Section 12.2, understanding curves in space (from Section 9.6), and the work interpretation of the dot product from Section 9.3.