Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2004/paper-2/2/i/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2004 Paper 2 2 i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
Write . The Taylor expansion gives the near-axis resultTo extend off the axis, work separately above and below the charged plane. In either source-free half-space the regular axisymmetric solid harmonics are . Matching the positive-axis coefficients, using , and then reflecting in the disk givesHere is a Legendre polynomial. The quadratic term is . The linear term is above and below; it represents the discontinuity of the normal electric field. A single regular spherical expansion across the entire charged sheet would incorrectly remove that jump.
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