Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2002/paper-1/9/ii/solution

On each of the two radial legs, is perpendicular to the tangent. Each contribution is zero, giving . This differs from the straight-path answer, confirming path dependence.
For , use with decreasing from one to zero, followed by with increasing from zero to one. The two contributions are
They cancel: . This agreement is a consequence of the conservative vector field property already proved, rather than evidence sufficient by itself to establish it.

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