Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/paper-2/13/b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2022 Paper 2 13 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
The curl of is . Thus for it cannot be a gradient field, while for it is zero and all its vector-field potentials are constants. This zero-vector case is allowed by the question.
For the radial vector field , write . Choose a radial primitiveFor , the chain rule givesHence all vector-field potentials on a connected domain where the field is defined areThe assumed existence of the needed derivatives and integrals justifies this construction. If the domain includes the origin and the field is regular there, choose and extend the primitive there. Any two vector-field potentials differ by a constant on each connected component.
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