Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ia Paper 3 10B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Let be any constant vector and take . The product rule for divergence gives . The divergence theorem on a bounded region with piecewise smooth boundary, oriented outward, therefore yieldsSince is arbitrary, equality of all components provesHere is continuously differentiable on a neighbourhood of the closed region.
For the side of this right circular cone, the parameter tangents are and . Their cross product in the outward order isThe sign is outward because the solid right circular cone lies at smaller cylindrical radius for fixed height. Reversing the parameter order reverses the oriented surface element.
To check the integral identity, the closed boundary must include the top Euclidean disk , radius , as well as the curved side. For , horizontal components cancel on integrating . The side contribution isOn the top Euclidean disk and , so its contribution is . The total is . Independently, the cross-section of the solid at height has area , and , givingThus the two sides agree. The curved side alone is not a closed surface and does not satisfy this volume identity. The apex has zero area; alternatively one can truncate at height and let , with the extra boundary contribution vanishing.