Normal Command
Computes the normal component of a vector quantity on a surface such as a cutplane or object surface. This is the equivalent of taking the dot product of the quantity with the surface's unit normal vector:
To take the normal of a vector:
- Load a vector quantity into the top register.
- Load a surface into the top register using the Geometry/Surface command.
- Click Normal.
Because surface
normals of sheets are not well defined the fields calculator can produce
incorrect results if an expression is evaluated on a sheet. To enforce
the correct direction of the surface normal of a sheet, a faceted 3D
object (such as a box) can be defined such that one of its planar faces
is coincident with the sheet. Because surface normals of a valid object
are always defined in an outward direction in