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<document xmlns="http://cnx.rice.edu/cnxml" xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:md="http://cnx.rice.edu/mdml/0.4" xmlns:bib="http://bibtexml.sf.net/" id="id8886378">
  <name>Vector Fields</name>
  <metadata>
  <md:version>1.1</md:version>
  <md:created>2005/06/29 14:11:56 GMT-5</md:created>
  <md:revised>2005/07/01 11:11:39 GMT-5</md:revised>
  <md:authorlist>
      <md:author id="padley">
      <md:firstname>Paul</md:firstname>
      
      <md:surname>Padley</md:surname>
      <md:email>padley@rice.edu</md:email>
    </md:author>
  </md:authorlist>

  <md:maintainerlist>
    <md:maintainer id="padley">
      <md:firstname>Paul</md:firstname>
      
      <md:surname>Padley</md:surname>
      <md:email>padley@rice.edu</md:email>
    </md:maintainer>
  </md:maintainerlist>
  
  <md:keywordlist>
    <md:keyword>Flux</md:keyword>
    <md:keyword>Vector Field</md:keyword>
    <md:keyword>Vector Fields</md:keyword>
  </md:keywordlist>

  <md:abstract>What is a Vector Field?</md:abstract>
</metadata>
  <content>
<section id="id4703198">
<name>Vector Fields</name>
<para id="id8875712">
   A vector field can be considered a map of vectors over some space. .  For
   example if one were to show wind vectors on a weather map; that would be a
   vector field.  The electric field surrounding a charge is a vector field (were
   is the potential around the charge is a scalar field).
</para>
<para id="id8882428">
   The flux of a vector field through a closed surface is the
   average outward normal component of the vector times the area of the
   surfaceflux = (average normal component
   )<m:math display="inline">
     <m:mrow>
       <m:mo form="infix">⋅</m:mo>
     </m:mrow>
   </m:math>(surface
   area)
</para>

<para id="id8879778">
   Three vector fields are shown below. Which represents the electric field
   eminating from a positive point charge in the middle? (Note that vectors of
   similar magnitude are colored similarly in these plots)
</para>
<para id="id8878786">
   

   <figure id="id8892722"><media type="image/gif" src="VectorFields.gif"/></figure>

</para>
</section>
</content>
</document>
