Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2014/ia/paper-3/11a/iii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 3 11A iii Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The electric field of this point charge is a translated and scaled version of the radial field in part (ii). If and , its divergence vanishes throughout , so the divergence theorem gives zero flux integral.
If lies inside , remove a small ball centered at . On the remaining volume the divergence is zero. Its boundary is together with the small sphere, whose outward normal for the punctured volume points towards . That inner sphere contributes , by the sphere flux computed in part (ii). Thus the exterior flux must be :This is Gauss's law for a point charge. The assumption that the charge is not on the boundary is essential to these alternatives.
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