Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2009 / ib / Paper 1 / 16A / b / Solution

The charge and its proposed image charge give the exterior electric potentialAt $z=0$ the terms cancel, so $\Phi =0$ everywhere on the plane and its tangential derivatives vanish. Thus the image construction satisfies the earthed-conductor boundary conditions. It has the correct point-charge singularity, is harmonic elsewhere in $z>0$, and decays at infinity; electrostatic uniqueness identifies it with the exterior solution.