A simple and more general approach to Stokes' theorem

Abstract

Oftentimes, Stokes' theorem is derived by using, more or less explicitly, the invariance of the curl of the vector field with respect to translations and rotations. However, this invariance -- which is oftentimes described as the curl being a "physical" vector -- does not seem quite easy to verify, especially for undergraduate students. An even bigger problem with Stokes' theorem is to rigorously define such notions as ``the boundary curve remains to the left of the surface''. Here an apparently simpler and more general approach is suggested.