Past exam of the physics 2 paper of the University of Oxford / 2021 resit / 1 / b / Solution

Put electric charge $+Q$ on the inner electrical conductor and $-Q$ on the outer one. In the gap, spherical symmetry makes the electric field radial and constant on a spherical Gaussian surface. Gauss's law givesThe inner-to-outer electric potential difference is thereforeThus the capacitance of the spherical capacitor isAs $b\to \infty$ this gives the capacitance of an isolated conducting sphere, $4\pi {ϵ}_{0}a$; for $b-a\ll a$ it approaches the parallel-plate capacitor result with area $4\pi a^2$.