Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 44 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Build the spherical system by adding shells from the centre outwards. The shell theorem says that a shell of mass at radius interacts with the already assembled interior mass through potential . Thus its contribution is . Each pair is counted when its outer member is added, so no further factor of one half is needed:Integration by parts givesFor an isolated finite-mass system without a singular central point mass, the endpoint term vanishes provided the central cusp has finite binding energy. ConsequentlyThis is the spherical binding-energy mass integral. If a central singularity makes the endpoint or integral divergent, the finite-energy assumption must be checked rather than silently discarding that term.