Question

@rational

Answer 1

how do I tell whether the curl F = 0?

Answer 2

That's a drawing of the vector field F

Answer 3

http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/39231/what-do-i-know-when-the-curl-of-a-vector-field-equals-0

Answer 4

I know it's conservative if curl F = 0, using determinants, but I'm not sure for the drawing of a vector field.

Answer 5

Notice that the field is "expanding" and it doesn't seem to have any "rotation" component

Answer 6

No rotation component implies curl = 0

Answer 7

Ah ok, so this curl is obviously 0

Answer 8

yes

Answer 9

Thanks Galois

Answer 10

yw yw

Answer 11

So quick question, if curl is rotation, what is divergent then, is it something like opposite to curl?

Answer 12

divergence

Answer 13

Divergence measures expansion/contraction of a vector field. For example the divergence of a flowing water in canal is 0 because if you consider any two points, the amount of water entering is same as the amount of water leaving