Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-2-paper-of-the-university-of-oxford/2016/8/c/solution

Let denote the radial distance from the axis in the plane, and write . A charge at height and its image give a combined normal electric field at ; the tangential components cancel. Superposing the two pairs yields
The conductor boundary condition gives , so
To integrate the induced surface charge, use concentric annuli of area . Since ,
The local surface charge density is negative near the origin but positive farther out; integrating only the negative patch would miss the total. The total real charge is , so the induced also agrees with the sum of the two image charges. An isolated finite plate constrained to zero net charge would require a different global boundary-value problem; the formula is the infinite-plane solution just specified.

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