Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2016 / ia / Paper 3 / 12C / c / Solution

Away from the origin, the given vector field is the gradient of the globally single-valued radius:The sphere has centre $(5,3,2)$, at distance $\sqrt{38}$ from the origin, and radius one. Its intersection circle is therefore wholly away from the origin, since every point on the sphere has distance at least $\sqrt{38}-1>0$. Along the closed curve the chain rule gives $\mathbf{F}\cdot d\mathbf{x}=dr$. Consequently, independently of orientation,The intersection is nondegenerate: the centre's distance from the plane is $4/\sqrt{35}<1$. No parametrization of the resulting circle is needed because $r$ is a potential of a conservative vector field throughout the punctured space.