Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2014 / ia / Paper 3 / 11A / iii

The electric field of this point charge is a translated and scaled version of the radial field in part (ii). If $\mathbf{a}\notin V$ and $\mathbf{a}\notin \partial V$, its divergence vanishes throughout $V$, so the divergence theorem gives zero flux integral.

If $\mathbf{a}$ lies inside $V$, remove a small ball centered at $\mathbf{a}$. On the remaining volume the divergence is zero. Its boundary is $\partial V$ together with the small sphere, whose outward normal for the punctured volume points towards $\mathbf{a}$. That inner sphere contributes $-q/{ϵ}_0$, by the $4\pi$ sphere flux computed in part (ii). Thus the exterior flux must be $q/{ϵ}_0$:This is Gauss's law for a point charge. The assumption that the charge is not on the boundary is essential to these alternatives.