Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2014/paper-2/2/ii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2014 Paper 2 2 ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
Resolve the angular surface charge density into Legendre polynomials:For a single degree , write the common surface potential as . Regularity and decay require radial factors inside and outside. Their exterior-minus-interior radial derivative at is . Thus spherical harmonic matching with a derivative jump gives .
Only degrees zero and two occur, yieldingBoth expressions have surface value , and their derivative difference is , checking both interface conditions. The interior quadratic is regular at the origin, and the exterior potential tends to zero.
The leading far-field term is the monopole term. Indeed the total charge is , and the normalization of the specified jump gives . No extra permittivity factor is inserted into the supplied normalization. Regularity here means finite piecewise smooth potential; its normal derivative necessarily jumps at the charged surface.
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