Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2002/ia/paper-3/4a/solution

The divergence theorem states that, for a bounded region with piecewise smooth boundary , outward unit normal vector , and a continuously differentiable vector field on a neighborhood of ,
The outward orientation fixes the sign of the flux.
On the sphere of radius , the outward unit normal vector is . Thus . Multiplying by the surface area gives
For the second calculation, use the product rule in Cartesian coordinates:
The field remains continuously differentiable at the origin when . Indeed, for its Jacobian matrix entries are , all tending to zero as ; its derivative at zero is also zero because . The divergence theorem therefore applies to the entire ball. In spherical coordinates, it yields
in agreement with the direct surface integral.

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