Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Oxford / 2015 / Prelims / Mathematics V / 7 / b

By the assumed spherical symmetry of the electric potential, the electric field is radial: $\mathbf{E}=E_r(r){\mathbf{e}}_r$ for $r>0$. On a sphere of radius $r$, Gauss's law therefore readsPut $R=a(1+\delta )$. For $r<a$, the enclosed electric charge is $4\pi {\rho }_0{r}^3/3$. In the spherical shell, the factor $s^2$ in the volume element cancels $s^{-2}$ in the charge density, soIt follows thatAt the origin the first formula gives $\mathbf{E}=0$ without needing a radial unit vector. At both shell interfaces the adjacent formulas agree: for every fixed $\delta >0$, there is no surface charge concentrated on either sphere, and the electric field is continuous there. No sign restriction on $h^{\prime }$ has been assumed, so the shell charge density and the radial electric field can be negative.

Set $r=R$ in the enclosed electric charge formula:Outside the entire charge distribution, Gauss's law gives $E_r(r)=Q/(4\pi {ϵ}_0{r}^2)$. Integrating $E_r=-{\phi }^{\prime }$ with $\phi (\infty )=0$ givesThus the exterior electric potential and electric field are exactly those of a point charge $Q$ placed at the center. This is the electrostatic shell theorem: outside a spherically symmetric charge distribution, only its total electric charge affects the electric field, not how that electric charge is distributed radially. If positive and negative electric charges cancel to give $Q=0$, both exterior quantities vanish.

For the thin spherical charge layer limit, smoothness of $h$ givesThus the shell's total electric charge tends to $4\pi {\rho }_0{a}^3{h}^{\prime }(1)$ while its thickness tends to zero. At each fixed $r>a$, the observation point eventually lies outside the shell, whereas at each fixed $r<a$ the interior electric field is unchanged. The limiting electric field away from the sphere is thereforeIts outward-minus-inward jump isPhysically, the limit is a uniformly charged ball of charge density ${\rho }_0$, together with an infinitesimally thin spherical shell of uniform surface charge densityIndeed its electric charge is $4\pi a^2\sigma$, and the standard normal electric field jump is $\sigma /{ϵ}_0$. The surface charge density can have either sign, or vanish, according to $h^{\prime }(1)$.

The order of limits matters. For every finite $\delta >0$, taking the two one-sided limits at $r=a$ first gives zero jump. The displayed nonzero jump is obtained by first taking $\delta \to 0$ at fixed points on either side, then approaching $a$. The value at the surface itself need not coincide with either trace of the limiting electric field.