Radial flux through a truncated unit sphere
ID: radial-flux-through-a-truncated-unit-sphere
Let and let be the outward-oriented boundary of , . For a continuous function , the vector field has outward fluxOn the curved unit sphere, the outward unit normal is , so the normal component is . A horizontal spherical band has area , producing the first term. On the top disk, the outward unit normal is , the normal component is , and the area is , producing the second term.
For with a continuous first derivative, the fundamental theorem of calculus givesThis direct surface integral proof needs no second derivative of . For , it reduces to ; the divergence theorem identifies this with three times the enclosed volume.
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