Curl

In vector calculus, the curl is a vector operator that describes the infinitesimal rotation of a vector field in three-dimensional Euclidean space. At every point in the field, the curl of that point is represented by a vector. Curl is an extension of torque.

Given a vector field [math]\displaystyle{ \mathbf{F} }[/math], the curl of [math]\displaystyle{ \mathbf{F} }[/math] can be written as [math]\displaystyle{ \operatorname{curl}\mathbf{F} }[/math] or [math]\displaystyle{ \nabla \times \mathbf{F} }[/math], where [math]\displaystyle{ \nabla }[/math] is the gradient and [math]\displaystyle{ \times }[/math] is the cross product operation.

Related pages

• Divergence