Divergence

<p>In <a href="/facts/Vector_calculus/mXKIJLJE">vector calculus</a>, divergence is a <a href="/facts/Vector_operator/RxRxgnSU">vector operator</a> that operates on a <a href="/facts/Vector_field/ccFNuPPp">vector field</a>, producing a <a href="/facts/Scalar_field/8MtPTGob">scalar field</a> giving the quantity of the vector field's source at each point. More technically, the divergence represents the volume density of the outward <a href="/facts/Flux/Aw3P5Bvb">flux</a> of a vector field from an infinitesimal volume around a given point.
</p><p>As an example, consider air as it is heated or cooled. The <a href="/facts/Velocity/Q3o1LVDe">velocity</a> of the air at each point defines a vector field. While air is heated in a region, it expands in all directions, and thus the velocity field points outward from that region. The divergence of the velocity field in that region would thus have a positive value. While the air is cooled and thus contracting, the divergence of the velocity has a negative value.
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Divergence open-in-new

Divergence