Still in flux

Calculus Level 3

Find the outward flux Φ \Phi of the vector field F ( r ) = r r 3 \vec{F}(\vec{r})=\frac{\vec{r}}{||\vec{r}||^3} through a regular hexagonal surface H H whose vertices satisfy the equations 2 x + y 2 z = 3 2x+y-2z=3 and x 2 + y 2 + z 2 = 2 x^2+y^2+z^2=2 .

As your answer, return the integer nearest to 1000 Φ 1000\Phi .


The answer is 1632.

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1 solution

Otto Bretscher
Dec 17, 2018

I will use a combination of symmetry considerations and "brute force." I hope that somebody will come up with a more elegant solution.

The given plane 2 x + y 2 z = 3 2x+y-2z=3 has a distance of 3 2 2 + 1 2 + ( 2 ) 2 = 1 \frac{3}{\sqrt{2^2+1^2+(-2)^2}}=1 from the origin; we can rotate the plane into z = 1 z=1 without changing the flux. Thus we can consider a hexagonal surface with its vertices at z = 1 z=1 and x 2 + y 2 = 1 x^2+y^2=1 . We can place two vertices at P ( cos α , sin α , 1 ) P(\cos\alpha,\sin\alpha,1) and Q ( cos α , sin α , 1 ) Q(\cos\alpha,-\sin\alpha,1) where α = π 6 \alpha=\frac{\pi}{6} . The flux Φ \Phi we seek is six times the upward flux through the equilateral triangle with its vertices at P , Q P,Q and ( 0 , 0 , 1 ) (0,0,1) .

The upward flux density through the plane z = 1 z=1 is F n = F k = 1 ( x 2 + y 2 + 1 ) 3 / 2 \vec{F} \cdot \vec{n}=\vec{F} \cdot \vec{k}=\frac{1}{(x^2+y^2+1)^{3/2}} . Thus Φ = 6 0 cos α ( tan α ) x ( tan α ) x 1 ( x 2 + y 2 + 1 ) 3 / 2 d y d x = 12 arctan ( 6 ) 4 π 1.63203 \Phi=6\int_{0}^{\cos \alpha}\int_{-(\tan \alpha)x}^{(\tan \alpha)x}\frac{1}{(x^2+y^2+1)^{3/2}}dy\ dx=12\arctan(\sqrt{6})-4\pi\approx 1.63203

The required answer is 1632 \boxed{1632} .

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