Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/ib/paper-1/11e/iii/solution

For fixed , varying traces a unit circle in the radial-vertical plane centred at
Thus is a unit tube whose centre winds helically around the -axis. Since
the given curve is its inner helix.
Take to be the circular cylinder . Along ,
so their span is the tangent plane of that cylinder. The two surfaces are therefore tangent along . Moreover,
which is normal to the cylinder, so is a geodesic of . Part (ii) now proves that it is a geodesic of . This is the cylindrical-helix tangency construction.

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