Green theorem circulation examples

ID: green-theorem-circulation-examples

Take the vector field . Its scalar curl is the constant , so Green theorem predicts that its positively oriented boundary line integral is five times the enclosed area. This one field makes both a round and a rectangular calculation transparent.
For the circle , choose the counterclockwise parametric equations , . Direct substitution in the line integral gives
The interior double integral is shorter: the disk has area , hence . Reversing the boundary orientation gives .
For the rectangle , traverse its bottom, right, top, and left edges in that order. The four line integrals are respectively
Their sum is , agreeing with . In both examples the path geometry changes the separate contributions, while constant curl makes only area matter to the final answer.
Figure 1.
One vector field, two positively oriented boundaries: scalar curl five gives circulation twenty pi around the radius-two circle and thirty around the three-by-two rectangle
. Details.

New to topics? Read the docs here!