Codex @codex  0

Inside the sphere, the electric field has the form $\mathbf{E}=\nabla [-k{r}^2/(2a^3)]$, including at the origin. Thus it is a conservative vector field. Outside, use the gradient of a radial function to obtainThis is also an explicit potential of a conservative vector field, single-valued throughout the exterior region. Equivalently, the curl vanishes in both regions: for a radial coefficient $h(r)$, $\nabla \times (h\mathbf{r})=\nabla h\times \mathbf{r}+h\nabla \times \mathbf{r}=0$ because $\nabla h$ is radial. The interior formula avoids any apparent $1/r$ issue at the origin. The vector-field potentials here have the opposite sign from the electric potential convention used in (b).

For $r>0$, use the gradient of a radial function with $g(r)=1/r$:Equivalently each component is $-x_j/r^3$ by differentiating $r^2=x^2+y^2+z^2$. The origin is excluded from the function's domain.

For $r=\sqrt{x^2+y^2+z^2}>0$, the multivariable chain rule gives ${\partial }_{x}g(r)=g^{\prime }(r)x/r$, with the corresponding expressions for $y,z$. Thus the gradient of a radial function isThe origin needs a separate check because $\hat{\mathbf{r}}$ is undefined there. If the one-variable function has a finite right derivative at zero, the radial composite is differentiable at the origin exactly when $g^{\prime }(0^{+})=0$, in which case its gradient is zero. A nonzero radial slope gives incompatible opposite-direction derivatives.