Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-b-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/paper-1/section-c/c8/b/solution

Let point from medium 1 to medium 2. Integrate over a thin Gaussian pillbox crossing the interface. As its thickness tends to zero, the side contribution vanishes and any free surface charge density gives
Apply to a thin rectangular loop spanning the same interface. Its short sides vanish in the limit, so the tangential electric field is continuous:
For a clean dielectric interface with no free surface charge density, these electrostatic interface boundary conditions reduce to and . In particular ; the normal electric field itself need not be continuous. Bound polarization charge is already incorporated into .

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