Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 9C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
For an oriented smooth surface with piecewise smooth, consistently oriented boundary, Stokes theorem givesfor a continuously differentiable vector field defined on a neighborhood of . Choose the upward normal vector here. The surface is an annular band of an elliptic paraboloid, parametrized byUsing as the oriented vector area element givesThe sketch below shows the open band, not a capped solid. Its upper circle has radius one and its lower circle radius one third.
Annular paraboloid with upward normal and opposite induced orientations on the outer and inner boundary circles
. Differentiating the given vector field yieldsThe surface integral is thereforeFor the boundary line integral, the upward normal vector induces counterclockwise traversal of the outer circle and clockwise traversal of the inner circle, as viewed from above. On a circle of radius , parametrized counterclockwise, is constant andSince each fourth power integrates to , the two-circle line integral isconfirming Stokes theorem and the Stokes flux through an annular paraboloid. Reversing the chosen orientation changes both integrals to .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 ia Paper 3 10C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Take the normal vector outward from the cylinder-and-cone solid. The surface consists of the cylindrical side and conical roof, with no bottom disk; this convention fixes the otherwise unspecified orientation of a surface. The boundary is the radius-two circle at . Reversing every normal vector reverses the final sign.
For , its curl is . For the cylindrical parametrized surface, use , with , and use as the outward area vector. Its flux isFor the cone, let , and . Its outward area vector is . ThusThe total surface integral is therefore with the outward convention, or for the opposite convention.
For Stokes theorem, the induced bottom-circle orientation is counterclockwise as viewed from above, opposite to the orientation of an outward bottom cap. Use with increasing . Thenagreeing with the two parametrized fluxes. The seam at is internal and cancels between the two pieces; the cone tip does not supply another boundary curve.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 68 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For an incompressible flow, write the Newtonian fluid stress tensor as , where is the rate-of-strain tensor. The Stokes equation gives . Symmetry of the Cauchy stress tensor therefore givesIntegrating and applying the divergence theorem expresses the viscous dissipation as boundary power:At a moving rigid body, the surface velocity is . Its boundary-power contribution is , with the force and torque evaluated using the fluid's outward normal vector. Both resultants vanish for a force-free, torque-free inclusion. Thus the new viscous dissipation comes entirely from the unchanged outer boundary velocity. Subtracting the particle-free boundary power givesApply the Lorentz reciprocal theorem to and in the fluid outside the inclusion. On the outer boundary , soWriting for the particle's outward normal vector gives the required extra dissipation due to a rigid inclusion:This subtraction already accounts for the fluid volume displaced by the inclusion; it is not just the integral of the disturbance's local viscous dissipation.
For the sphere, the ambient rate-of-strain tensor is symmetric and trace free. The sphere in a uniform straining Stokes flow has zero translational and rotational velocity: inversion symmetry eliminates its force, and symmetry of eliminates its torque. To derive the disturbance, put , and seekThe incompressible flow condition and Stokes equation reduce toA decaying family satisfying these equations is , , . The no-slip boundary condition requires and , so and . ConsequentlyThe total velocity is zero at , and the disturbance decays as . The pressure constant has been set to zero. These boundary and far-field conditions, together with Uniqueness of Stokes flow, establish the solution. There is no rotational background in a pure strain flow.
On the sphere . Contracting the supplied Newtonian fluid stress tensor with makes its two terms proportional to cancel, leaving . Hence the extra dissipation due to a rigid inclusion isHere . Taking the large outer boundary limit only after using the fixed-boundary power identity avoids replacing that prescribed boundary by an uncontrolled boundary at infinity.
If denotes the number of spheres per unit volume, . ThusAdd this to the particle-free viscous dissipation density . Comparing with gives the Einstein viscosity formula for a dilute suspension:to first order in . The hydrodynamic interactions neglected here contribute beyond that dilute order.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 4 10C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
For any vector , differentiating its components and the rotating basis gives the rotating-frame derivative formulaApply it twice to the position , with constant angular velocity . The inertial acceleration iswhere dots denote rotating-frame derivatives. Newton's second law therefore becomesThe last terms are the Coriolis force and the force corresponding to centrifugal acceleration.
For the particle on a uniformly rotating inclined plane, choose orthonormal vectors along the horizontal axis and up the slope, and set , the upward normal vector. Then andHere is the normal reaction. The marble is modeled as the smooth sliding particle specified by the printed equations, without an additional rolling constraint. The rotating-frame Coriolis acceleration and centrifugal acceleration are respectivelyThe normal rotating-frame acceleration is zero, so the normal reaction is not generally ; it satisfiesProjecting the same equation onto the two tangential axes gives exactly
Multiply the equations by and and add. The Coriolis force terms cancel, as expected because this force does no work relative to the rotating frame. The normal reaction also does no work along the plane. The conserved quantity is rotating-frame kinetic energy plus gravitational and centrifugal potential energy:This need not be the conserved inertial energy, since the externally driven rotating plane can exchange energy with the particle.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 50 1 c ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Choose the outward normal vector and the positive conventionThe ambient connection vanishes in Cartesian coordinates. Since and , the extrinsic curvature components are , . Taking the trace using the induced metric,Reversing the normal or using the negative extrinsic-curvature convention gives . The two principal curvatures are and zero in the chosen convention; the averaged mean curvature would be , so it must not be confused with the requested trace.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ia Paper 1 5A b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The two displacement vectors and lie in the required plane. Because the three points are non-collinear, their cross productis nonzero and is a normal vector to that plane. A point with position vector lies in the plane exactly whenExpanding the cross product givesThe terms and vanish, so the equation of a plane through three points becomesNon-collinearity is important: it ensures this is a genuine plane equation with nonzero normal, rather than the vacuous equality .
For the specified coordinates,Their sum is , with Euclidean norm . Consequently either orientation of the unit normal is valid:As a check, the scalar triple product is , so the plane equation simplifies to , which all three supplied points satisfy. The normal direction is .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 4 15F a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Write derivatives with respect to . The arc-length condition is . The tangent vectors areTheir scalar products give the first fundamental formChoose the unit normal vector , since and . Scalar products of with the second partial derivatives giveThe mixed coefficient is zero. Reversing reverses the second fundamental form but not the Gaussian curvature. Its formula isDifferentiating the arc-length identity gives . Substitute it directly, without dividing by (which may vanish), to obtain
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 328 3 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Let be a bounded piecewise smooth domain, and , with the outward normal vector. Integrating the divergence form from part (i) and using the divergence theorem gives two global relations for a linear boundary value problem:These conjugate global relations for the modified Helmholtz equation are identities between the prescribed Dirichlet boundary condition and its unknown normal derivative; neither is a pointwise boundary equation. Both hold for every nonzero boundary spectral parameter under the usual trace regularity assumptions.
If is real, its two boundary traces are real. Since and the outward normal vector is real,Thus apply complex conjugation to the first global relation for a linear boundary value problem, and replace its parameter by , to get the second. For complex , conjugation would also replace its traces by their conjugates, so that argument requires the stated reality assumption. There is also an algebraic redundancy in this particular parametrization: , hence even for complex data. This does not change the requested conjugation identity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 328 3 iv Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Label the sides by , and parametrize the two vertical sides by , the horizontal sides by . Their outward normal derivatives are , , and . Let denote the prescribed side values. Assume compatible, sufficiently regular boundary traces; the square's corners have zero arclength measure and do not require separate normal values.
For sine collocation of square modified Helmholtz global relations, use Legendre polynomials for the known Dirichlet boundary condition and a Fourier sine series for the unknown normal derivative:The known coefficients are . The sine functions have and form a complete basis in . Choosing them for the normal derivative does not impose zero flux at a corner: the expansion is an representation, and endpoint values are not determined by it. If preserving corner values of the approximated Dirichlet trace is necessary, subtract its endpoint-interpolating line before polynomial approximation, and add that line back. All subsequent known-data integrals can alternatively be evaluated with the exact .
Define the entire function basis transformsAt the quotient is evaluated by its removable limit or by the defining integral. For example, , and polynomial expansion of expresses every in derivatives of . PutFor compactness write and . Substituting these expansions into the first global relation for a linear boundary value problem givesThe signs are fixed by the outward normal vectors, rather than by a choice of traversal direction. The second approximate global relation for a linear boundary value problem replaces by , leaving unchanged:Here records omitted boundary-expansion tails. In a finite spectral method the selected equations are set equal to zero to solve for the unknown real coefficients . For real data the two families obey the same complex conjugation relation as their exact counterparts.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 4 7C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Choose an origin near the bounded loop and write for the source position. The magnetic vector potential and its far-field multipole expansion arewith the loop held fixed as . The first term integrates to zero since is closed. Define its oriented vector area byThe second equality is Stokes theorem, applied componentwise to any oriented spanning surface. In particular the vector area is independent of the choice of spanning surface. From , the matrix is antisymmetric, which gives . HenceThe orientation follows the current by the right-hand rule. For , taking the curl of this leading magnetic vector potential gives the magnetic dipole fieldFor a planar loop, is the signed area times the unit normal vector. For a nonplanar loop it is the oriented vector area, rather than the scalar area of an arbitrarily chosen surface.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 105 2 b iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The positive uniform ellipticity condition from part (i) is needed here. It is not explicitly imposed in the printed preamble. Without it the conclusion is false: on , take , , and . The Neumann boundary condition is satisfied by , and for arbitrarily large shifts.
There is also an actual error in the PDF's supplied trace inequality: a nonzero constant has nonzero trace and zero gradient. Use instead the valid multiplicative trace inequality on a bounded smooth domainFor completeness, choose a smooth vector field agreeing with the outward normal vector on the boundary. The divergence theorem gives, for smooth ,Approximation and the Sobolev trace theorem extend it to . Thus the intended existence result remains true after correcting the hint.
Set , , , , andUniform ellipticity and the Young inequality giveFor , the bilinear form is coercive on the real Hilbert space with coercivity constant .
All coefficients are bounded, and the Sobolev trace theorem gives . The Cauchy-Schwarz inequality applied to each volume and boundary term therefore proves . Also is a continuous linear functional, with . Every hypothesis of the Lax-Milgram theorem is now verified, and it gives
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ib Paper 1 11F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
For an oriented smooth surface , the Gauss map sends to the chosen unit normal vector . Since , differentiation shows that is perpendicular to and hence lies in .
In a local parametrization with , differentiatinggivesThus the bilinear form is symmetric, so is self-adjoint. The Gaussian curvature isWriting the coefficients of the first fundamental form asand those of the second fundamental form asone obtains
At an umbilic point, the self-adjoint map has a repeated eigenvalue, so it is a scalar map. If every point is umbilic, there is a function withEquality of mixed partial derivatives givesThe two tangent vectors are linearly independent, hence . Since is connected, is constant.

