Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 9C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
For an oriented smooth surface with piecewise smooth, consistently oriented boundary, Stokes theorem givesfor a continuously differentiable vector field defined on a neighborhood of . Choose the upward normal vector here. The surface is an annular band of an elliptic paraboloid, parametrized byUsing as the oriented vector area element givesThe sketch below shows the open band, not a capped solid. Its upper circle has radius one and its lower circle radius one third.
Annular paraboloid with upward normal and opposite induced orientations on the outer and inner boundary circles
. Differentiating the given vector field yieldsThe surface integral is thereforeFor the boundary line integral, the upward normal vector induces counterclockwise traversal of the outer circle and clockwise traversal of the inner circle, as viewed from above. On a circle of radius , parametrized counterclockwise, is constant andSince each fourth power integrates to , the two-circle line integral isconfirming Stokes theorem and the Stokes flux through an annular paraboloid. Reversing the chosen orientation changes both integrals to .
