Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ib Paper 1 11E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The curve is symmetric in both coordinate axes and under interchange of and . Its shape, including its eight inflection points, is:
Writing , the surface of revolution has equationLetIts gradient isIf this vanished, then and , but at such a point , not five. Hence zero is a regular value, and the regular level set theorem shows that is a smooth embedded surface.
For a surface of revolution, the two principal curvatures are the curvature of the meridian and the normal curvature of a parallel. Along ,so the normal is vertical in the meridian plane and the parallel principal curvature vanishes. Therefore the Gaussian curvature, the product of the principal curvatures, is zero there.
These are not the only zero-curvature points. The meridian itself has inflection points, at which its principal curvature vanishes. Setting and , their positive squared coordinates satisfyBesides interchanging and , the solution is approximatelyEach corresponding meridian inflection point sweeps out another circle on , so does not exhaust the zero set of the Gaussian curvature.
