Circulation around a hole in an oriented surface (${\oint }_{\partial S^{\prime }}\mathbf{v}\cdot d\mathbf{r}=-{\int }_H(\nabla \times \mathbf{v})\cdot \mathbf{n}dS$)

Let a closed oriented surface $S$ lose a patch $H$, leaving $S^{\prime }$. Assume a smooth vector field on the relevant surfaces and that its total curl flux through $S$ is zero. The Stokes theorem gives the title formula when the edge is oriented as the boundary of the remaining surface $S^{\prime }$. The boundary of the removed patch $H$, with its original normal, has the opposite direction and hence the opposite circulation.

For a cylindrical side of radius $R$, if $(\nabla \times \mathbf{v})\cdot \mathbf{n}=-\alpha R$ everywhere on the removed patch, the circulation around the boundary of the remaining surface is $\alpha R\mathrm{area}(H)$. This uses actual curved area, rather than its planar projection, and does not depend on the patch shape. For multiple boundary components, the formula concerns the sum with their induced orientations.