Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2016 / Paper 1 / 13 / b

Put $L=5\pi /2$. The curve tangent is ${\mathbf{r}}^{\prime }=(-b\sin \theta ,b\cos \theta ,c)$. For the first line integral, the scalar triple product identity gives $(\mathbf{a}\times \mathbf{r})\cdot {\mathbf{r}}^{\prime }=\mathbf{a}\cdot (\mathbf{r}\times {\mathbf{r}}^{\prime })$. Its cross product isThe needed definite integrals areand ${\int }_0^L(-\theta \sin \theta -\cos \theta )d\theta =[\theta \cos \theta -2\sin \theta {]}_0^L=-2$. HenceFor the second line integral, substitute the curve into ${\mathbf{v}}_2\cdot {\mathbf{r}}^{\prime }$. The cubic terms combine to $b^3\cos \theta$, leavingThe fundamental theorem of calculus therefore givesBoth calculations retain the full path from $\theta =0$ to $5\pi /2$, rather than inadvertently closing the helix after one turn.